I'm Renaming This
by TheOutbreak
Summary: After being rescued by Old Peculier and Skylord Lysander, the three heroes - Xephos, Honeydew, and Annahvi - set off to defeat Israphel. But the curious Elf quickly becomes involved in a deadly balance between power and sanity. One wrong move could end her life, and the lives of those closest to her.
1. Author's Note

_It is with great displeasure to tell you that this story is not like the several other ones you have read. Like most of the stories you have heard as a child, this story shall include magic, bravery, adventures, monsters, and the never-ending struggle between good and evil. Unfortunately, this story shall also contain death, betrayal, heartbreak, hatred, jealousy, greed, and sadness._

_We last saw the three heroes - Annahvi the Elf, Xephos the Space Man, and Honeydew the Dwarf - on a deserted island. They remained on that island for several months, using their bare wits and limited resources to survive with no help from the outside world. They were successful in surviving and being able to overcome the challenges that faced them, but one day an old friend returned, this time with a stranger. Their friend said he needed their help to vanquish the evil that he had feared fled forever with his true love, and that they would have to destroy what they had created. And so, they all left the island in search for their new quest. For the sake of Minecraftia, may these heroes survive._


	2. Prologue

_Creak...creak...creak...creak..._

"Goddammit..." an elf mumbled softly, "I think I'm going to go insane if I have to stay in this room for much longer..." She glanced around the tiny room that she and her friends were sleeping it.

It was an extremely small room, barely big enough for all four of them, and it wasn't helpful with the loud groaning of bending floorboards and whistling of the wind. She looked at her sleeping companions with an amused smirk.

Old_Peculier laid down on the floor, muttering every now and then, but otherwise completely quiet. He tossed and turned constantly, probably dreaming of Daisy and Israphel, she thought. It was tragic what happened to Peculier, to have someone you loved taken away from you. She couldn't help but feel pity for the poor old man, which is certainly why she had agreed to help him all those months ago.

To Old_Peculier's right was Honeydew, snoring rather loudly. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight, but Honeydew always managed to bring a smile to her face, whether it be intentional or not. Of course, there would always be times when his mischievous demeanor would cause trouble, but Annahvi didn't mind. She preferred to have an exciting yet dangerous life.

And then there was Xephos...

He was asleep against the wall, not saying a word, not making a move. And even when he slept, he looked absolutely beautiful...Annahvi certainly had to say that she and Xephos got along the best, ever since they first talked on that ship. He was such a logical thinker, but also a sweet compassionate side which Annahvi admired very greatly. Of course, there were always a few awkward and stressful moments with each other. Sometimes Xephos would be too over-bearing with her, and sometimes she would be too reckless, but they always managed to make up and move past it.

Annahvi smiled sweetly at her sleeping friends before trying to lie down on the floorboards, but to her dismay she just couldn't fall asleep. Every little detail that surrounded her appeared to bother her, whether it was the sound of the floorboards, the rocking of the airship, the almost unnoticeable sound of the wind outside, or the lack of cushioning between her and the wood.

Finally she let out a groan of defeat and once again looked around in the darkness for something to occupy herself with. Of course, there wasn't anything to look at - it was dark and there were no windows. So with that, she carefully crept past her sleeping comrades and opened the door to their room, just enough for her to slip through.

Instantly, the cold yet refreshing feel of air slapped Annahvi into her senses and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since the Reverend_John attacked her in the crypt back in Terrorvale, small and confining spaces made Annahvi feel uneasy, as if she couldn't escape from a darkness. The feeling of endless space and wide open sights seemed to calm her nerves, as if reassuring her that she was free from all boundaries.

She began walking along the airship's deck, examining the railing, the hot air balloons, and even in the chest at the bow which Xephos and Honeydew had filled with only the bare necessities - which for some reason included explosives.

"Are you feeling alright?" someone asked, "It's rather late."

Annahvi turned around to where she heard the voice, and looked up to see Skylord_Lysander setting the airship, his flight goggles covering his eyes and his hat strapped firmly around his head.

There wasn't a lot that Annahvi knew about Skylord_Lysander, but that was mostly because she had only just recently met him. He was certainly an adventurer, like her and her friends, but there was something else about him that made him...extraordinary. Perhaps it was his thrive for adventure...he obviously enjoyed sailing through the skies on a wooden ship. Or perhaps it was more of how he appeared to her, but then again, there wasn't much to say except he had a similar mustache like Xephos'. But there was just _something_ that made Annahvi uncertain...

"Annahvi?" Skylord_Lysander asked in confusion as he starred at the elf.

She finally snapped out of her trance and realized how strange she must have been looking to him. Instantly she turn her eyes away from him, looking away with a nervous blush.

"Sorry about that Lysander..." she said softly, "It was just that I couldn't sleep..."

"Couldn't sleep?" Lysander repeated, "Got something on your mind?"

"I'm not sure really," Annahvi said, rubbing her arms nervously, "I just...I just can go to sleep..."

Lysander looked at the young and confused elf before laughing.

"It's probably because this is your first time on an airship." he suggested with a chuckle, "Yes...it takes a while to get used to..."

"I suppose..." she agreed, looking out into the distance. Skylord_Lysander looked at her with a faint smirk before he finally spoke up.

"Hey Annahvi," he said happily, "Why don't you come up here and steer for a bit?"


	3. Chapter 1

"Are you sure?" Annahvi said, very shocked, "I mean...I don't know the first thing about flying one of these contraptions."

"Don't worry, it's easy, and I'll help you if you need it. Also, it' should help you rest easy."

She looked up at the confident Skylord before sighing in defeat and joining him at the steering wheel to the airship.

Skylord_Lysander stepped away from the steering wheel and let Annahvi take control, but it was obvious after a few minutes that she was terribly nervous about controlling an airship.

"Relax Annahvi," he chuckled, "You don't need to be afraid."

"Who said I was afraid?" she pouted stubbornly, making Skylord_Lysander chuckle softly.

"Of course..." he laughed, "My apologies."

Eventually, her nerves managed to relax enough for her to confidently steer the airship without Lysander's help, but she soon let him take control again. They continued to talk together amongst the night sky with whatever they could think of, which mainly included Lysander's life as a Skylord, and their latest adventures.

"So what's Mistral City like?" Annahvi asked after some time, the moon now low in the sky.

"It's a rather big city," he explained, "There are several different buildings, and some of them aren't even on the ground."

"Really?" she asked, clinging onto every word that he said.

"Yeah, they're accessible though a system of catwalks that only Skylords can use."

"Wow...It sounds amazing. It must be wonderful to see the city from such a view..."

"It is, believe me." Lysander chuckled softly, "Who knows? Maybe I'll show you the city with the airship."

"That sounds like a lot of fun."

The two of them talked for a long time together, discussing anything that came to either of their thoughts, when suddenly Skylord_Lysander looked out into the horizon and smiled brightly.

"Annahvi," he said, "Look behind you..."

The elf looked at him in confusion before she turned around, and instantly she gasped in awe. There was the rising sun, reflecting off of the beautiful sea. Of course Annahvi had seen the sky before, but never before did it look so wonderful. The sky was a beautiful watercolor rainbow, and the ocean down below reflected the light beautifully, making the water glisten and glow.

"Wow..." she whispered, making Lysander chuckle. She turned back to Lysander with a bit of a smirk a bit of a smile before she finally let out a tired yawn.

"Goodness me..." she said, "I can't believe I didn't get _any_ sleep at all..."

"Well, the others will be up in a bit," Lysander said, "So I think you'll be able to sleep better with everyone else out of the room."

"Yeah..." she mumbled in agreement before looking back out into the sun.

"It really is beautiful..." she chuckled, "Anyways, thanks for talking with me Lysander. I enjoyed it."

"Likewise." he said with an honest smile.

Later, Xephos, Honeydew, and Old_Peculier left the cabins after a long peaceful slumber, but the moment they left, Annahvi instantly went back in and feel fast asleep, her mind still tangled in dreams of flying over the oceans with a beautiful sunrise.

Xephos looked at Skylord Lysander in surprise before looking back to the cabins which Annahvi had just went into.

"Goodness me," he said, "Did you two stay up all night?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, "Annahvi couldn't sleep so we talked some and I showed her how to steer the airship."

"Really..."

"Yeah, stayed up all night with me...She must be exhausted."

"Well how much longer till we make it to the Yogcave?" Honeydew asked.

"I estimate it'll take another few hours or so."

Those 'few hours' passed by rather uneventfully, Skylord_Lysander and Old_Peculier would take turns between steering the airship, Annahvi was still fast asleep in the cabins, and Honeydew and Xephos simply passed the time by enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, as the airship had began to get closer to the Yogcave, Skylord_Lysander paused for a moment, looking around the airship for a brief moment.

"Skylord_Lysander," Old_Peculier said, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure..." he answered vaguely, "I just can't help but feel that something is wrong..."

"You've been flying for too long now, Lysander. Why don't you let me steer for a while?"

Still, even after Old_Peculier had taken control over the Celaeno, he couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. But soon he was calmed when he saw Yogcave, not too far away.

"There is it," Honeydew said happily, "The Yogcave! It's been so long! We should just land here."

"Well it's a good thing you want to land now." Old_Peculier said, a wavering nervousness in his voice, "Because I can't seem to control the airship anymore!"

"What?"

Lysander instantly rushed up to Old_Peculier's side and began to fiddle about with the controls. He turned the steering wheel, pulled levers, and turned knobs and switches, but it appeared that even a Skylord couldn't control the airship, and it was headed towards the ground at a rather fast pace.

Xephos quickly threw open the door to the cabins and began to shake Annahvi awake.

"Come on..." he said softly, "Wake up! You've got to wake up!"

"Hm..." Annahvi grumbled softly, "What is it, Lewis?"

"We have to leave." he said sternly, "The airship malfunctioning and we're going to crash."

"What...?" she mumbled, still half asleep.

Xephos simply groan in frustration before he looked outside and noticed the approaching impact. Instinctively, he quickly wrapped himself around Annahvi, who was still partially confused.

What happened next was hard for anyone to remember. The airship had crashed to the ground with an enormous explosion, and all that Annahvi remembered was being pushed back by the intense shockwave. There was a strong heat that seemed to surround her entire body, but there was also a feeling of being smothered. It felt as if she was being covered in a large duvet, left with nothing but a strong warmth and a strange pressure against her body. Soon, she felt her body slam into a hard surface - no doubt it was the ground - and began to tumble around, her center of gravity flying around like a tiny firefly.

Eventually, all of the tumbling stopped and Annahvi's mind had finally caught up to cue. She groaned in pain, feeling her sore body ache as she tried to get up.

"God..." she grumbled, "What a wake up call..." Finally, she managed to stand up straight, using a nearby stone wall for support, and looked around.

At first, she didn't recognize any of the sights before her, and only saw strange red flowers on top of several scattered objects. But eventually she recognized the flowers as fire, and realized that she was back at the Yogcave. And if she was at the Yogcave, her friends must be nearby.

"Lewis!" she called out, "Simon!" she looked amongst the burning debris which surrounded her until she managed to vaguely see past the smoke.

"Lewis!" she said, walking towards the familiar figures, "Thank God!"

"Annahvi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine...Just a little dizzy..."

The two of them looked around and when saw that Honeydew was nearby, and not too far from them was Old_Peculier, Skylord_Lysander and the remains of the airship.

"Oh, Honeydew," Annahvi said in relief, "You're here, good."

"How are you, pal?"

"I'm alright," Honeydew answered casually, "Aright, I'm slightly dozy, but then, I _was_ just in a crash of an airship plummeting into the rocky earth, so that probably explains it." The dwarf then paused from what he was saying and looked down in embarrassment to see a flint and tinder in his right hand. "Actually," he continued, "now that you think about it, the airship crashed and caught fire and there's fire everywhere and I'm standing here, holding a flint and tinder."

"Are you telling me that you set the airship on fire?" Annahvi asked.

"Um...I may have gotten a bored during the journey, and I just wanted to...ya know, entertain myself."

"I can't believe you..." Annahvi sighed, "Well the important thing is that everybody is safe, so I'm gonna go check on Old_Peculier and Skylord_Lysander."

She hopped off the hill that the three of them were standing on and headed over to the remains of the Celaeno where Old_Peculier and Skylord_Lysander - who had caught on fire - were.

"Old_Peculier," Annahvi said, helping up the old man, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine..." he said, "I'm just a little tired."

After making sure that Old_Peculier was going to be alright Annahvi then turn to Skylord_Lysander, who had just jumped into a small body of water.

"You alright?" she asked, looking down at the now drenched man.

"I'm fine..." Skylord_Lysander sputtered as Annahvi helped him out of the water and onto solid ground, "I just didn't expect to catch on fine, then have to jump into freezing ice cold water."

"Do you want to use my cloak?" she asked, beginning to undo the emerald clasp.

"That won't be necessary." he continued, wringing out his wet shirt.

"Hurry Heroes," Old_Peculier said boldly, looking at Xephos and Honeydew, "follow me through the portal when you are ready! Daisy awaits me."

Old_Peculier had already began to head towards the portal that the three adventurers had built whilst Honeydew and Xephos were busy stuffing as much junk in their pockets as possible. Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander watched Honeydew slip some explosives into his inventory, leaving Skylord_Lysander with a sense of dread.

"Your dwarf friend is extremely destructive." he said, but Annahvi just shrugged with an innocent chuckle.

"I know," she said, already walking off to rejoin Old_Peculier, "But that's just how he is."

Skylord_Lysander looked at her in confusion as she walked off towards the portal. How has she possibly survived being stuck with _them_? But that was a question that he would have to get answered some other time. At the moment, Old_Peculier needed everyone's help; trivial questions would have to wait.

"We're finally going through!" Honeydew said energetically, "Oh my God...I'm terrified."

"Well don't worry, Simon." Annahvi said optimistically, "We're prepared for whatever awaits in the Nether!"

"Here we go!" Old_Peculier said, taking the first step.

"For victory!" Skylord_Lysander boldly declared, following after. Xephos squeezed Annahvi's hand as if for reassurance, and she nodded her head bravely. She shut her eyes and quickly stepped through the portal, feeling the chill as she phased through the strange vortex. But once she reopened her eyes again she saw, to her dismay, Old_Peculier, Lysander, and Honeydew, still in the lands of Minecraftia.

"What the...?" she began, searching for the right words to describe her confusion. Sadly, there were simply too many questions that none of them probably had the answer to.

"It's not working." Xephos said, rather indifferently, before turning to see several mounds of sand at Old_Peculier's feet.

"Curse him!" he shouted, "He has sealed the way! This sand...could it be?"

"What, Peculier?" Skylord_Lysander asked, "What is it?"

But Old_Peculier said nothing, and instead closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Old_Peculier?" Annahvi asked, placing a hand on the Inn keeper's shoulder.

"No!" he said suddenly, causing the elf to fall back, "The portal must be destroyed!"

"I don't get it." Honeydew said out loud, "A minute ago you wanted to go through it, and now you want to destroy it?"

"What about Daisy?" Skylord_Lysander asked.

"There are other portals..." Old_Peculier answered vaguely, "We must find are ill times...I fear the world is in peril. It pains me, but Daisy will have to wait"

"Destroy it with haste, heroes, lest it corrupts the land more!"

"Don't worry olod manfacxgen." Honeydew slurred as he pulled out a diamond pickaxe, "I shall destroyter the operl."

Instantly, Annahvi burst out into laughter at the dwarf's intoxicated behavior, but this only worried Old_Peculier and Skylord_Lysander more.

"Are you drunk?" Old_Peculier asked bluntly.

"Should we trust him with the pick if he is?"

"I've got a head injury!" Honeydew said defensively, making Annahvi only laugh a bit more. But somehow the dwarf was successful in taking a brick on obsidian from the portal, causing the strange vortex to disappear into the air.

Unfortunately, the feeling of victory was short lived. Almost instantly after Honeydew had destroyed the portal, Old_Peculier began to turn pale and clutched his chest in pain.

"Old_Peculier!" Annahvi shouted, holding onto his right shoulder.

"So...Tired..." he muttered, "But I cannot rest."

"Peculier," Skylord_Lysander said, "You are sick! We must take you to Mistral City! We can continue the search there."

"Daisy..."

"Hang in there, Old_Peculier," Annahvi said hoisting him against her, "We'll find some way to make you better..."

"Yes..." the weak old man said, "Thank you friends, let us hurry."

"Where is this city?" Xephos asked, keeping his eye on Annahvi.

"It's a long way away," Skylord_Lysander explained, "at least a day, you should gather any supplies you may have."

"Annahvi," Old_Peculier murmured, "I cannot be a burden to you during our travels, I must gather my strength." The elf looked at him with a look that was both motherly and stern, and Xephos let out a groan of aggravation.

Since, Xephos knew Annahvi the best, he also knew that her greatest fault was her rather stubborn self-esteem. She appreciated courtesy, but could never swallow her pride - at least, not easily. Most often it was because she assumed people acted as if she was weak and feminine, but sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between chivalrous underestimating, and simple kindness.

"Annahvi," Xephos said, "I've got some milk and a pork chop for Old_Peculier. It's best if we can take care of ourselves, that way there's a smaller chance of being slowed down."

The brown-haired elf looked at him, as if she was about to argue, but silently gave up the mental war and helped Old_Peculier against a nearby wall. Xephos quickly handed him a pork chop and gave him a bucket of milk.

"Thank you Heroes." he said, less fatigued, "That has helped me some. Was your house near here?" Annahvi nodded her head and smiled weakly before Xephos and Honeydew headed into a small room beside the portal that they had built.

Annahvi remembered that Honeydew had temporarily made it for storing, crafting, smelting, and waiting out the zombie-infested night.

"Is this your home?" Skylord_Lysander asked, looking about the small hovel, "It's quite small..." Instantly Annahvi chuckled softly, but Honeydew and Xephos appeared rather offended

"You cheeky..."

"Just wait and see!" Xephos interrupted, before the dwarf could go any farther.

"Our home is the glorious Yogcave!" Honeydew boasted, "Accessed via this tunnel here."

"Perhaps you 'landed' on it Lysander." Instantly Honeydew and Xephos burst out into laughter, but Skylord_Lysander just scowled.

"There was nothing I could do." he replied simply, "The machinery was malfunctioning."

"Sure, sure..." Honeydew said, walking through a small corridor that was on the opposite side of the cave. Skylord_Lysander simply scoffed at the dwarf's response before following the others through the small passage.

"Lewis," Annahvi said, "Why is it so dark? Did you and Simon put down torches when you made this tunnel."

"I thought there was water at the end as well..." Of course though, Xephos and Annahvi quickly understood what was so wrong.

In all honesty, Annahvi's memories of the Yogcave was rather vague, especially after being stranded on a deserted island for so many months. She _did_ remember when they first discovered the Yogcave, busying herself cleaning up the cave in her spare time, and she definitely Xephos stayed up on those long nights, busy working on those terrible double-back stairs which lead up through the mountains and to the top.

"Oh dear..." she said nervously, "I don't think this is what house-warming means..."

There was certainly a light at the end of the tunnel, but unfortunately that light was a result of a large amount of fire, and the absence of walls. All around them was an uneven terrain, as if someone were to scoop the stone slowly in a bowl shaped manner, and all around them were small fires which were most likely a byproduct of the destruction. Up above, there were the remains of the wood flooring as well as the rushing waterfall that was originally just a small stream of water that cascaded down in front of the entrance, which was now missing along with the entire wall.

"What the hell has happened here?" Xephos yelled as Honeydew let out a distraught screech.

"We've been on such a long journey. through so many places," he sobbed, "and I just wanted to go home..."

"My God..." Annahvi breathed, careful not to lose her footing, "Our...The Yogcave...But who...?"

"This doesn't look very homely." Skylord_Lysander said as they all began to climb up to the wood flooring.

"There's an enormous fuckin' hole here."

"Which one...?" Annahvi asked, as if she was trying to lighten the mood.

"LYSANDER!" Honeydew suddenly yelled, "DID YOU LAND ON OUR YOGCAVE!"

"No, no! You've got it all wrong!" Skylord_Lysander said, raising his hands defensively, "It's the smoke form this place the slogged the Celaeno...and caused her crash..."

As Xephos continued to inspect the endless damage inflicted upon the Yogcave, and with Honeydew trying to apologize to Skylord_Lysander, Annahvi continued to look upon the battered remains of what she once called a home.

Everything was now destroyed, either completely obliterated or in crumbling ruins. Either way, Annahvi couldn't help but feel her legs begin to give out as tears began to form in her eyes. She fell to her knees, looking up into the smoke-filled sky, trying her best to stamp out the strange noises forming in her throat. Almost instantly the others noticed this, but no one said anything, worried they would just upset the elf further.

"Annahvi..." Skylord_Lysander began softly, taking a few steps closer to her, "Are you okay...?"

"I-I'm fine..." she choked out after a few minutes, "It...It's just...just this-s damned smoke...It's...It's making me...f-feel sick."

"But you're crying..."

"Sh-Shut up!" she shouted, feeling more tears fall down onto the floor, "It's just the smoke...It's making my eyes burn."

He looked as if he was going to respond, and in a rather rude tone, but Xephos quickly motioned for him to stop. It was better for Annahvi to be alone in her self-pity than confronted by someone she barely knew.

"We should leave..." he finally said, rather indifferently, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Dwarf," Old_Peculier said, "I found these boots on my travels. They are too heavy for me." He handed Honeydew a pair of boots which were made out of a very tough metal, they looked brand knew, and the dwarf happily accepted them.

"Thanks a lot, friend..."

"Oh God, it's getting dark." Xephos grumbled, "We can't really bunk up in the dark in here, can we? What do you guys suggest?"

"We should leave at dawn, so the road is safe." Skylord_Lysander added.

"But we'll be vulnerable to monsters if we stay here." Annahvi contradicted. Instantly they looked at each other with rather irritated faces, and it appeared that they would once again start another argument, but then Old_Peculier spoke up.

"I can't stay in this place..." he rasped, "The smoke." After he said this, several harsh coughs escaped his throat, and so Skylord_Lysander nodded his head.

"You are right." he said, more to Old_Peculier than to Annahvi, "Gather your supplies and we will head out immediately."

"Well this is just dandy..." Honeydew said sarcastically.


	4. Chapter 2

"Follow me!" Skylord_Lysander said boldly heading off straight into the night. Annahvi couldn't help but scoff softly before following her friends. Well, this much she knew about Skylord_Lysander so far; he was bold, and at the moment that was becoming less of an asset and more of an ass. He also used snide remarks which appeared to annoy Honeydew and Xephos a lot, but she couldn't help but despite wanting to push it away as another flaw, she couldn't help but laugh at them. Other than that he appeared to be perfectly fine, and despite their recent arguments, Annahvi honestly didn't want to argue with him.

"Creeper!" Old_Peculier yelled out, snapping Annahvi from her thoughts. She instantly turned around to see a terrifying green monster looming behind her, growling maliciously. She quickly grabbed for her bow and quiver slung behind her back, but before she could even fire a first shot an arrow penetrated the Creeper's head and it quickly fell to the ground, dead.

She looked at the monster disintegrating in confusion before turning to Skylord_Lysander who smiled almost triumphantly.

"You're welcome." he chuckled, making the elf just sigh in disbelief. Of course, first appearances _could_ be right.

"I could've taken him." she said before adding, "...Thanks...". This only made Skylord_Lysander smirk. They continued to travel through the night for a little while longer until a zombie suddenly emerged from the darkness, attacking Xephos.

"Oh, Goddammit..." he cursed as his friends turned to attack the zombie, accidentally hitting Skylord_Lysander in the process.

"Ow!" he yelled, making Annahvi chuckle to herself as she carefully hid away her bow and arrow.

"You okay?" she continued, turning to him.

"Yeah..." he said, dusting himself off, "I'm fine."

"Oh God, this road wasn't here before." Xephos said, looking at a long cobblestone path which stretched for miles, with wooden posts with torches placed down every few feet. It appeared to carve through a small hill before taking a turn and become a bridge over the icy frozen lake. However, the bridge was broken only a few feet after extending over the ice.

"The road is destroyed," Skylord_Lysander said, "a bad omen!"

"The road is damaged." Old_Peculier worried as they continued past the ruined bridge. "I hope the city still stands."

"As do I..." he added in agreement. They continued down the path through another hill and across a snowy plane, whilst Annahvi simply looked out into the night uneasily.

"Lewis," she said, "Do you think that this is all Israphel?"

"I don't know whether Israphel has done _any _of this, though." he said softly, "I'm mean, cause Israphel only appeared until we built the portal..."

They spoke together for a little, but they turned around to see that Old_Peculier had slowed to a halt and leaned against a nearby stand with a torch.

"Please wait..." he gasped, "I must rest."

"Of course..." Annahvi said, understandingly.

"All right Peculier," Skylord_Lysander said, "we shell rest." He then turned to Xephos, Honeydew, and Annahvi.

"Heroes," he said, "We have not been properly introduced. I am Lysander. I was one of the Skylords, the ruling council of Mistral City."

"Greetings!"

"We can see above your head." Honeydew said, referring to the white title above his head, "You are _Skylord_ Lysander."

And instantly he looked above his heads in confusion, trying to see his name, but of course Annahvi just giggled childishly at how confused he looked. However, she noticed a sudden change to a grim expression and stopped laughing.

"With the Celaeno gone," he continued, "I many be a Skylord no longer."

"What?" she said in an outburst, "But that doesn't seam fair." Skylord_Lysander turned to her with a look of gratitude, but before either of them could say anything Old_Peculier groaned as he stood up properly.

"Okay." he said, "I think I can make it further."

"Right." Annahvi said, "Let's go!" It wasn't too long before the sky began to light with the sun, and suddenly the memories of when she watched across the horizon on the Celaeno at dawn.

And with that, her mind went back to what Skylord_Lysander had said before. Would he really lose his title as a Skylord because of the crash? It didn't seem fair in any way; the smoke from the fires couldn't have been prevented by any of them. What would happen to Lysander if he lost his title as Skylord, anyway?

"I'm glad you shall see the spires of Mistral at dawn."

His voice snapped Annahvi out of her pondering thoughts before turning to the Skylord to her right. "Is it really that amazing?" she asked, almost skeptically, but he just responded with another laugh.

"Of course, the light hits the buildings just right, and when you see the city from the sky it just takes your breath away!"

She smiled up at him weakly, trying to rid herself of the thoughts of the Celaeno's ruins and his possible loss of title.

"Incoming!" someone yelled, and suddenly Annahvi felt herself fall face first into the snow, the feeling of icy water dripping down the back of her head.

"Of course..." she muttered to herself, looking up at Honeydew who smiled sheepishly.

"You're dead meat..." Xephos chuckled softly as the elf began to ball up a small mound of snow. She wound her arm back like one of a pitcher's before releasing the snowball and hitting the space man right on his forehead.

"Annahvi!" he whined, making Skylord_Lysander and Honeydew burst out into laughter.

"Sorry..." she giggled apologetically. And so whilst Old_Peculier continued to regain some of his stamina, Xephos, Honeydew, and Annahvi continued their snowball fight, hitting Skylord_Lysander with a snowball every now and then.

"I feel better..." Old_Peculier said after some time.

"It's about time..." Skylord_Lysander said, dusting off some excess snow, "Onwards!"

"Come on, Annahvi." Honeydew joked, "Don't be such a child, playing in the snow!"

She simply scoffed with a small chuckle and followed after her friends, patting up once more snowball.

They climbed up a set of stairs, and just beyond the hills was a strange tower off in the foggy distance. It looked like any other ordinary lighthouse, with a large beacon at the top and a long stripped tower with a wide girth, but what made it look so bizarre was, as a matter of fact, that it was floating in midair. Annahvi instantly dropped the dripping snowball in her hand and Skylord_Lysander couldn't help but laugh at her amazed reaction.

"Behold," he began proudly, "the gleaming spires of Mistral!"

Still, Annahvi didn't say a thing - she was too shocked by the floating lighthouse.

"Ha! If you think that's amazing, wait till you see the rest of the city!"

"I'm sure it's amazing." she finally said with a smile.

"Oh it is, believe me," he said reassuringly.

As a matter of fact, Skylord_Lysander was so busy telling Annahvi about the fair city ahead, that he didn't even notice that he had strayed from the path headed right towards a large crater in the earth. But it didn't take long for Lysander to notice the difference between the ground and thin air. His foot instantly fell through, and Honeydew couldn't help but laugh when he saw the Skylord's surprised face. Annahvi quickly tried to grasp his hand and pull him back onto his feet, but instead the two of them teetered in suspense before tumbling on top of each other.

"Oof..." Skylord_Lysander grunted as Annahvi fell on top of him.

"Ow..." she groaned before getting up, "Sorry about that..."

"It's nothing..." he said, brushing off some stray dirt on his pants.

All the while, Honeydew couldn't help but laugh as he mentally replayed the two of them falling down onto each other.

"Brilliant." he chuckled.

Ignoring the dwarf's laughter, the two of them climbed out of the crater and continued down the path towards the beautiful city which became clearer and clearer the closer they got. Honeydew looked up at the floating towers and airships, less excited than Annahvi.

"Well it looks like it still standing," he said, stopping at a small building with a sign above which read "Guard Post" and walking in without any hesitation.

"What this..." he wondered out loud, making Annahvi stop and look inside the building as well, "A 'Guard Post'? It's empty."

"Oh look, you guys!" she said excitedly, "There's some armor in here? Can we take it?"

"No, that's probably a bad idea, it's probably bad to steal from the guards.

"And I think they need it," Xephos added, walking

She couldn't help but pout jokingly before once again rejoining her friends.

"While you were gone," Skylord_Lysander explained as they crossed into the city through it's large wooden stockade, "Peculier came to us with ill news from Terrorvale. My father served with Peculier during the Sand war, and I trust him."

"Oh, so that's how he found you?"

"Correct."

Annahvi smiled in understanding before looking ahead of her and she couldn't help but look in awe. In what appeared to be the heart of Mistral City were three large pools of water, with titles including Pool of Memories, the Fountain of Strength, which lead up to floating islands, attached by the catwalk system Skylord Lysander mentioned, causing a relaxing shade from the sun. There were several quaint homes, shops, and other buildings, some far more extravagant than others. Finally, past the pools of water was a church with a large painting of an apple in the center, and near the cemetery was a very...outlandish man, who was humming a tune. He wore mostly white clothes with red trimming, a black belt with a gold buckle, large gold sunglasses, and on the back of his shirt was a picture of a bright red apple.

"Hello, Father." Xephos greeted.

"Hello, friend. Welcome to the church!"

Annahvi happily shook the priest's hands and was about to introduce herself when Old_Peculier once again groaned in weariness.

"I feel weak," he whispered, "help me heroes, I can barely stand." Almost instantly, Honeydew ran to his side and hoisted him up.

"Come, we must help Peculier to his father's house." Skylord_Lysander instructed, taking his other arm.

Between the two men supporting the weak inn keeper, they quickly managed to weave between the buildings and to a pair of stairs.

"His house is just up these stairs..."

And so, the dwarf and skylord helped their friend up the cobblestone stairs, expecting to see a quaint home, just like all of the others in the city, but what they saw was instead, mortifying.

"NO!" Old_Peculier cried.

Annahvi and Xephos quickly followed up the stairs and on that hill was the remains of a burning home. It was mostly destroyed, but parts of the wooden house were still ablaze. Amongst the things that remained intact was a sign at the door which read 'Bungalow Peculier', and an interesting portrait of a woman with blonde hair in a blue dress.

"My family home!"

Xephos quickly pulled out a bucket of water and bean to extinguish the fire, and Old_Peculier and Annahvi began to assist him, but it was obvious that it was too late.

"This is unsalvageable, I think, actually."

"Stop Peculier," Skylord_Lysander said, watching the frantic old man, "it has been burning for days. You must rest, you can stay at my house!"

"No..." he weakly denied, but it didn't take much for Peculier to agree, he was too tired, and so they headed into one of the rooms in the large mansion right beside the burning remains of Old_Peculier's home.

After everyone filed into the room, Annahvi glanced at the sign beside the door which had the title 'Elysium' carved in.

"Come in heroes," Skylord_Lysander greeted.

"You come up with some of the strangest names." she commented, receiving a confused glance, before looking around. The Elysium was rather cozy. It wasn't spacious, but there was certainly enough room for everyone to move about freely. There was a fireplace surrounded by sofas, a chair, and a rug, and there were some paintings hanging on the walls. As Honeydew and Skylord_Lysander continued to talk, she looked up a set stairs and noticed Xephos traveling up them. She silently followed him up, and then two of them looked into the second floor to see Old_Peculier by the windows, slumped over and tired.

"Old_Peculier...?" Annahvi began, extending her hand to tap him on the shoulder, "...Do you need anything?"

"He needs rest, Heroes." Skylord_Lysander said, startling the elf, "Let me give you a tour of the city while he recovers."

"Let us investigate this magnificent city!" Honeydew proudly suggested before pausing with a rather clueless look, "What's it called again?"

Instantly, Xephos let out an amused chuckle and Annahvi couldn't help but crack a smile at the dwarf's rather clueless demeanor, but she looked over to Old_Peculier again and suddenly realized something. While they both had lost their homes, Old_Peculier's home's destruction was more devastating. Having to watch the only thing you have left disappear in flames, and not having the chance to save it. When Annahvi, Xephos, and Honeydew lost their home, the damage was already done, so there was nothing left. But anything that Old_Peculier may have had was being burnt away at that very moment.

"Um..." Annahvi began, "Why don't you guys begin the tour without me, I have...something to do."

The three men looked at her in confusion before Honeydew shrugged and walked downstairs, and eventually the same with Xephos and finally Skylord_Lysander. She watched the three of them travel down to the first floor before searching through a nearby chest and happily finding what she was hoping for; a bucket.


	5. Chapter 3

Once Annahvi had left Skylord_Lysander's home to do whatever she required, Xephos, Honeydew, and Lysander returned to the second floor where they watched Old_Peculier, hopelessly starring out the window.

"We must not give up hope, friend." the dwarf encouraged as Xephos eyed a chest near the side of the bed, "you rest and regain your strength. Not just your physical strength, but your emotional strength."

"There is too much yet to do..." Old_Peculier replied, "Damn my old age!"

Xephos couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's speech, but his humorous thoughts were cut short when Skylord_Lysander spoke up.

"That's my chest you're going through there..." he said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Sorry, Lysander." he chuckled sheepishly. And so, dismissing any other thoughts, the three of them headed outside.

"Where are we going?" Xephos asked, but instead of replying, Skylord_Lysander headed down the cobblestone path, down the stairs, and stopped in front of a small building. Xephos and Honeydew had seen the building whilst headed towards Old_Peculier's family home. There was a stone and wooden sign which hung above the door, and it read "Grandma Bacon's Greasy Spoon Tea Shop". Quite a mouthful.

The inside of the store was rather quaint, with a long counter of the left wall and a few tables. There was a pool table to the right of the door if one was to walk in, and across the room was a long counter, with a large cake. Behind the counter there was, what appeared to be, a kitchen, and just between the two was a feeble old woman. She had silver hair and pasty skin, and she wore a simple dusty dress with an apron and a pair of black shoes on, and finally an emerald pendant. Above her head was the title in white letters 'Granny_Bacon'.

"This is the family grill," Skylord_Lysander said, stepping inside after the heroes, "there is always cake for the hungry adventurer."

"Hello again dears!" she said sweetly.

"OLD WOMAN," Honeydew yelled, "I DEMAND YOUR FINEST BACON!"

"My you're cute ones." she continued, walking up to Honeydew, "Certainly, I can't resist a beard like that! Now how about a hug?" She gave the dwarf a warm hug, but Xephos and Skylord_Lysander couldn't help but feel the awkwardness in the air. "What big strong muscles." she continued

Trying to avoid any more of Granny_Bacon's flirting, Xephos looked up at the prices above the counter and then at the cake.

"Do you two want some privacy?" Skylord_Lysander asked, before Xephos instantly spoke up.

"What he _means_ is...um...Can we eat this cake?"

"Help yourself to anything here," Granny_Bacon answered, "the cake is especially good!"

"Lewis," Honeydew said with a chuckle, "It's been a long day, I think I'm gonna turn in. Maybe if you and Skylord_Lysander go and uh...just be somewhere else..."

"Okay!" Xephos said, hurrying towards the door. The moment they got outside, he slammed the door shut and rushed to the center of the city, realizing he would never get to erase the events he had experiences from his mind.

"This centre of Mistral," Skylord_Lysander notified to the space man, "The platforms above us is what made us a great power in Minecraftia." Xephos looked up at the floating stages and above one he could faintly make out a name, 'Fumblemore'. Lysander continued to another small building and the space man looked up at the sign above the door. "Snozzi's House of Adult Pleasure & Entertainment". Soon after, Honeydew quickly rejoined the two men.

"Snozzi's house, for you pleasure." Lysander explained, and the moment Xephos and Honeydew walked into the room they burst out into laughter. The entire room was very small, and half of it was just a simple platform with two stripper-poles and both sides of the room. On the other side of the farthest wall, they could faintly see a title, another Skylord. This one was titled 'Skylord_Jasper', but other than that there was nothing else to be done. They headed out of the 'House' and right beside it was a small tennis court with a chest of equipment, and a diamond axe.

"The Tennis court," Skylord_Lysander continued, "and opium den, for other entertainment."

The two heroes decided, for some unknown reason, decided to play a round of tennis which mostly included Xephos hitting the net, and the both of them franticly running across the tennis court, trying to hit the tennis balls thrown at each other. Eventually, the two of them realized they were equal in lack of skill, so they decided to move onto their next location.

Beyond the tennis court was another small building, and above the door hung another sign, "Priusbar's Opium Hut No Minors" Inside was a small garden which consisted of some very strange flowers, and there also the Skylord, whose name Xephos had seen earlier, Skylord_Jasper. He wore a pair of goggles just like Skylord_Lysander, but that was the only similarity between the two. His uniform consisted of a grey-green top over salmon color clothes with grey boots. He had a mustache in the style of a horseshoe, but that and his eyebrows were the only source of hair on his head and face. He looked at Xephos for a brief moment before screaming in an angered voice.

"LEAVE THIS PLACE!", chasing Xephos out and slamming the door.

"He's not a friendly person, Jasper." Skylord_Lysander said bluntly. Honeydew tried over and over to get into the Opium Hut, but every time Skylord_Jasper would simply push him out and slam the door.

"Get OUT SIMPLETON!" he yelled, but Honeydew replied by yelling back. "WHERE IS DRUGS?"

Unfortunately, Jasper simply grumbled, and Honeydew eventually gave up and rejoined with this nearby friends.

"How the fuck do we get up to the top?" Xephos said softly, "I wanna go up to the top. How do we get up there?"

Honeydew looked over at him before he turned to a nearby area. It was mostly fenced in, but the strangest thing was a green Creeper hopping about.

"Is that a Creeper?" the bearded dwarf asked.

"Yeah, look."

"What on Earth is a Creeper doing in there?"

"I don't know," Xephos said, looking around the fenced in area, "What is this thing? Some sort of fenced off garden or something?" But on the opposite side there were two signs where an entrance once was.

"Ah 'Keep Out Danger! Mine Closed'."

"I wonder why the mine would be closed," Honeydew scoffed sarcastically, teasing the hopping Creeper.

Xephos was about to say respond to Honeydew's childish teasing, but suddenly he could hear the sound of someone screaming.

"WHAT DO _YOU_ WANT?"

The three men looked down the original alleyway they where recently, and there they saw Annahvi standing right in front of Skylord_Jasper, just looking at each other in confusion.

"I'm sorry..." she said, her voice filled with confusion, "Is not a bad time?"

She cocked her head to the side inquisitively, and all the while Skylord_Jasper was just staring at her, or rather, her body.

"Um...No No..." he said in a way that made Annahvi even more confused, "I just thought you were going to be...someone else"

She raised an eyebrow in a combination of skepticism and a joking means before continuing.

"Is that a bad thing?" she chuckled, but Skylord_Jasper instantly smirked, almost devilishly.

"Not at all." he answered smoothly, making Annahvi once again tilt her head in curiosity, but he simply continued "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new to Mistral City."

Instantly the elf's face lit up like the sun and she smiled excitedly.

"Oh yes!" she replied immediately, "I'm here with my friends, have you seen them? One is a dwarf, and the other is a space man."

"A dwarf and space man..." Skylord_Jasper looked down at her before shrugging indifferently, "I can't say that I've ever seen either of them." he said innocently, "But if you want, I could give you a tour of the city. I'd love to show you around."

Annahvi couldn't help but feel a bit uncertain about his oddly friendly demeanor, but shrugged off her concerns and was about to speak when suddenly -

"Annahvi!" a familiar voice shouted.

The two of them looked down the small alleyway they were standing at and the elf smiled happily when she saw Xephos, Skylord_Lysander, and Honeydew.

"Hi, you guys!" she said playfully, waving her hand, "I was just talking to Skylord_Jasper."

Whilst she smiled in all her oblivious quirkiness, Xephos couldn't help but notice that Skylord_Jasper and Skylord_Lysander were looking at each other with a look of contempt.

"Lysander," Jasper said with a devious tune, "You know her?"

"Yes," Lysander scoffed with a sarcastic roll of his eyes, "She, Xephos, and Honeydew are here with Old_Peculier and we need to rest for a while."

"Well, if it's rest that you require," Skylord_Jasper said smoothly, turning to Annahvi, "I'd be _more_ than happy to accommodate you."

"Um...thanks?" Annahvi said in confusion, but before she could ask what Skylord_Jasper was talking about, Xephos grabbed her hand and the four of them walked off, leaving the elf completely clueless.

"Lewis?" she began.

"I'll explain some other time..." he muttered, his face slightly red. And so they continued with their tour of the city.

"The Blacksmith is here," Skylord_Lysander informed, motioning to the stone building, "unfortunately our resident smith is on holiday to Terrorvale at the moment."

With those words, the two heroes looked at each other nervously.

"That's not good news!" Xephos said, looking at a sign near the door.

"Does he know Daisy?" Honeydew asked. But the moment Xephos read the sign his mind was able to piece together facts into understanding.

"Oh God, yeah. Look, it says 'Duke Smithy CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE'

"You mean Daisy?" Honeydew asked to Skylord_Lysander, "Is this her smith?"

"It's her father." he answered.

Xephos quickly examined the Blacksmith's before headed down the path and stopping at a large bulletin board.

"Here," Skylord_Lysander explained, "The Message Board and the Lumber Mill. And the Cemetery."

The Message Board had a few notices, but there wasn't anything of much importance. However, Honeydew and Xephos made a quick mental note of a sign near at one of the Lumber Mill buildings.

"'Mistral City Lumber Inc. Part of Jasper Holdings Group'." Xephos read, " Oh God, do you reckon that has something to do with Skylord_Jasper?" But Honeydew was too captivated with the large stained-glass window at the back of the church. It was a large bright red apple with a small stem and leaf.

"Is this the church?" he asked, looking up at the window, "Is this...the stained window of the church?"

"Yeah, it's good isn't it. I'm rather impressed with that."

"Is very pretty." Annahvi said in fascination.

"Oh my God it's amazing. It's an apple; this is the church of an apple. A bit strange if you ask me but still..."

They turned from examining the window to the cemetery where they saw Skylord_Jasper, laying down a few flowers on a grave. They began to scan about the tombs, stopping at a very odd ons - such as DAVE!YOGNAUT: He had the balls, Fellofalot: He Fell off...a lot, and Biritoff: Drowned in the Pool of Life." But while Xephos was glancing about the first row of graves, he heard Honeydew.

"Guys, come check out this." He walked up beside his dwarven friend, but instantly a chill went down his spine when he read the grave.

Reverend_John

Missing

Presumed Undead

Despite how grim the entire atmosphere felt, all of a sudden, Xephos couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the irony of the situation. Well, at least we can confirm that he's dead now, he thought. He looked up through one of the nearby church windows, and through the glass he could see the priest once again, this time he noticed the white title above which said 'Father_Braeburn'. Xephos and Annahvi waved to the priest before continued to scan amongst the grave stones, stopping at a rather interesting one titled 'Michael Barrymore's Career'; of course the three of them couldn't help but laugh. But soon their laughter was stopped short when they came across a grave with a familiar looking name.

Israphel

We do not Speak of Him

"Woah!" Honeydew said after reading the name.

"Oh God! What? Another one named Israphel!" Xephos groaned, referring to the tomb they found in Terrorvale. "Do we have to dig under this as well?" He instantly pulled out his pickaxe and began to dig through the stone, but once be broke through Skylord_Lysander turned to them in disbelief

"What are you doing?" he yelled, making the three of them turn around in embarrassment.

"Sorry!" Xephos said, placing back the stone, "We just had to check!"

Annahvi chuckled softly as she hid her face in embarrassment before they continued roaming amongst the gravestones, but they immediately stopped in front of three empty graves, and read the signs as the head of them.

"Oh my God," Xephos said as he and Annahvi stopped in front of them, "Simon, check this out!"

Xephos

Goodbye, Friend

Annahvi

I blame Honeydew

Honeydew

AAAAAAAAARGH

"There's a duck and a pig in your grave," he continued, making the dwarf look down and see a pig and duck wandering around, constantly knocking into the walls or each other.

"Well at least I know that there _is_ a heave in the afterlife." the dwarf said, receiving a laugh from the space man.

"I guess this is in case we're, like, unsuccessful in our mission; we're gonna be buried in the Mistral City cemetery."

"Well isn't that a lovely thought." Annahvi chuckled sarcastically. Of course, while all of this was happening, Honeydew, for no particular reason, decided to hop into his grave, where he soon got caught between the pig and duck. The elf and space man burst out into laughter, and Skylord_Lysander just looked at the dwarf in disbelief and confusion.

"Oh for goodness sake." Xephos laughed, "Well okay, you're basically in heaven. Should I just cover you up?"

"It's a little early for that." the Skylord added

"Just give me a minute." The dwarf said between gasps of laughter.

"Did you have enough time with Granny?" Xephos asked, making Annahvi look at her friend in confusion.

"Granny Bacon? What do you mean by that?"

Xephos mentally slapped his palm against his forehead. Of course Annahvi, fearless elf who could impale a Creeper with her bow and arrow and couldn't swallow her pride for even once chivalrous second, had absolutely _no_ clue about intimacy. As adorable as it was, it also made conversations with her awkward, and he didn't want to explain all of the jokes that they would make.

"Hey," Honeydew said, looking up at one of the floating towers, "I can see someone up there, guys."

"Yeah, I know," Xephos answered, "I saw someone too. Fumblemore."

"There's a weird tower," Honeydew said, hopping out of the grave.

"How do you even get to that tower? It's not joined to anything.

"Maybe you can get up their via airship." Annahvi suggested.

"You can go up the water." Honeydew offered.

Just as they continued to discuss options, Skylord_Lysander began to leave the cemetery, and he began to speak as if he could tell what they were thinking.

"I shall show you the sky tower. You seem interested in what is above."

Annahvi raised her eyes in surprise, but happily followed behind Xephos as they hurried after Skylord_Lysander.

"I am interested!" he said happily, "Let's go!" And so the four of them began another part of the tour, but suddenly Xephos remembered a question he was meaning to ask Annahvi.

"So where did you go?" he asked, making the elf look up and smile.

"Oh, I just put out the fire at Old_Peculier's home." she answered, as if it was nothing. But Xephos couldn't help but scoff.

"I wish you wouldn't do such reckless things." he chuckled.

"Hey, if I stopped being reckless, I wouldn't be chasing after Israphel with you two."


	6. Chapter 4

"Well, let's go!" Xephos said with a chuckle.

"So it's the Sky Tower..." Honeydew said after his friends quickly rejoined.

"It sounds very interesting." Annahvi said excitedly, hurrying ahead of her astronaut friend.

They headed down a cobblestone path which slipped between two rows of houses, but as Xephos followed behind, he stopped dead in his tracks when he looked out the window of a certain home with a sign that said 'The Astely Residence"

"Oh God." he said in disbelief "Guys, come back- come back here. Look."

"What?" Honeydew asked as they walked up to him.

"This is 'The Astley Residence'," Xephos began, with a laugh, "and there's, like, a Creeper living in it."

"What?" Annahvi said anxiously, looking through the large window, "Let me see! Let me see!" She pressed her eyes agains the window, scanning through the cozy little home, and lo and behold there was a slim green figure looking back at her with a pair of black eyes. Annahvi simply chuckled, though and stuck her tongue out tauntingly. At first, the Creeper did nothing, but then it ran towards the windows, making the young elf fall back and onto the cobblestone.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God..." Xephos chuckled, nervously "Should we just leave it there?"

"I think it's best..." Honeydew said, backing away as well. Of course, by this point, Skylord_Lysander noticed the heroes' interest in Mr. Astely's home.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Mr. Astely is a proud member of society."

"Is he a reformed Creeper?" Honeydew said as Xephos began to wander off.

"Yes." the Skylord answered, and Annahvi turned to open the door, but he was quick to stop her.

"I wouldn't go inside." he added with a foreboding look.

"No, I wouldn't either..." Honeydew muttered, receiving a laugh from his elven friend. They quickly found Xephos, who was rummaging through a trash bin.

"Xephos," Annahvi laughed, "You're goings through the trash?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry," he chuckled nervously, "I can't help myself; I found some pork chop in the bin, I think it'll be okay to eat..."

"Oh God..." she chuckled as he stored the discarded food before they followed Honeydew and Skylord_Lysander to the Sky Tower. But just as they began to head up the stairs which lead to the remains of Old_Peculier's home, there was a voice that could be heard crisp and clearly, even tough it was far away.

"Abra Kadabra!" a voice boomed.

"Fumblemore's casting spells-" Xephos began, but he was quickly interrupted by the loud echo of an explosion.

"Cripes!" the voice said again, "That didn't work. Back to the drawing board."

"What the hell was that?" Honeydew asked, looking up in the sky.

"I think Fumblemore cast a spell somewhere, and it might have gone wrong."

"Really?" Annahvi laughed sarcastically, "I think it went quite well.

"Oh dear," Father Braeburn said, "not another of Fumblemore's spells again."

They headed past Skylord_Lysander's home and stopped right in front of a large stone tower which reached up through the sky.

"Behold," the Skylord said proudly, "The Sky Tower."

The heroes looked up in amazement, and Annahvi opened her mouth to say something, but was abruptly cut off with the sound of Skylord_Jasper's yelling.

"WHAT WAS THE BLASTED NOISE YOU OLD FOOL!"

"Sorry down there!" Fumblemore yelled back.

Skylord_Lysander couldn't help but chuckle at hearing Fumblemore's nasal voice echo down below them before turning to Honeydew and Xephos, who were standing in front of a portrait of both them and Annahvi in front of a Portal.

"What?" Honeydew began. Of course, that's all that he could properly say. He stuttered and scramble for the right words to say, but all that came out were a few 'what's, and a couple of 'what the hell's.

"Yeah check it out," Xephos explain, almost knowingly, "How cool is that? You're dashing; Tales of our exploits have been heard across the land."

Annahvi turned to see the painting of the three of them and carefully every detail. A look of puzzlement and interest was glazed over her eyes as she examined the painting thoroughly. She gazed at it for what felt like several minutes, and for a moment all three men were afraid to say something. Finally, however, she spoke up and said six simple words.

"Are my ears really that long?" She turned to the three men who just looked at her with a combination of amusement and irritation. Upon realizing this, she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry..." she chuckled, scratching the back of her head, "So this is the Sky Tower?"

"Shall we just go in?" Xephos began, heading through the door of the stone tower. Annahvi happily followed after and the two began to head up a winding wooden staircase, but before they could even take the first turn, Skylord_Lysander entered and said "Our tour is over. You cannot go up there unless you are a Skylord."

"Aw..." Annahvi pouted before changing her tone to a rather sweet plea. "Can't you please make and exception?"

"Sorry," he said with a shrug, "But please, listen. Old_Peculier is sick and has been getting weaker. He was once a powerful Knight, but seems old before his time. I fear that his time in Terrorvale has poisoned him somehow..." Almost instantly, the elf's demeanor melted away to caring nurture and she was quick to leave the Sky Tower.

"That sounds terrible." she said sympathetically

"Oh God..." Xephos muttered, "What can we do to help?"

"We need his strength if we are to defeat...Israphel."

Instantly, Honeydew created a thunder sound effect, but instead of laughing Annahvi lightly punched the side of his shoulder.

"What do you suggest?" Xephos asked. After a short while of thinking, Skylord_Lysander finally looked up at the space man and responded.

"You have heard the explosions, they come from the Wizard's tower, he is wise and will know what to do."

"Bugger!" the wizard yelled, making the three heroes look up into the floating tower where Fumblemore was.

"Unfortunately," Skylord_Lysander continued, "without the Celaeno, we will need to build a bridge over to it."

"Do we have to go upstairs then?" Xephos asked, making Annahvi's face brighten with hope.

"I shall give you temporary Skylord licenses, allowing you access to the upper city."

"Huzzah!" Honeydew said, receiving a high-five from Annahvi.

"Do we get a uniform?" he asked, making Xephos and Annahvi laugh.

"One second," Skylord_Lysander said, pulling out a few stacks of papers, "I'm doing the paperwork."

Annahvi looked at him in disbelief before she sighed and turned to Honeydew and muttered, "...Boring..."

But finally, Skylord_Lysander handed each of them a piece of paper, blank. Annahvi looked at her blank paper in confusion and turned to the Skylord.

"What the-"

"Come, we must hurry." he said, quickly entering the Sky Tower and heading up the stairs.

As Honeydew and Xephos followed after him, the elf just starred in confusion for a few moments before heading into the Sky Tower as well. They began to climb the winding staircase.

When they made it to the top of the Sky Tower, the heroes could only stand in awe as they saw the city view as well as all of the other sights that they had missed before.

"Oh my God..." Annahvi breathed, "This is...amazing! It's so beautiful." Xephos laughed at her expression, like that of a child's, before he tapped her shoulder and pointed out.

"Annahvi, look at that hot air balloon. This is fucking epic!"

"I know," she laughed, "Lysander was right, this city is so beautiful up here!"

"There's a big fire down there," the Space Man pointed out, "Is that the top of the blacksmith or something?"

"I think so, see it's next to the graveyard and the church."

"...And there's the Wizard's Tower..." Xephos mumbled, looking at a tower out not too far from where they were standing.

Annahvi turned her head from the view below and began to travel across the catwalk with Xephos, but the two of them began to slow to a halt when they began to approach an airship, quite like Skylord_Lysander's, but _much_ bigger.

"Oh God, look. This is that fucking massive double airship that we saw before - do you remember; on Survival Island?"

"Oh," she shuddered jokingly, "don't remind me. I will never eat bread again."

"Was _this_ what we saw?" Honeydew said, examining the large airship across from them.

"Well I guess, it might be another one." Xephos contemplated, "'Cause it had two, remember, and this has got two. This is a lot bigger isn't it? Maybe they just saw us and reported us."

"I be _that _one wouldn't have crashed." Honeydew muttered, receiving a hearty laugh from Xephos.

"Oh try and be more sympathetic." Annahvi sighed with a grin, "The man lost his ship." However, they stopped talking and looked up at what they could only assume was Fumblemore's tower.

"The Wizard's Tower is over there..."

It was a large structure, reaching so that it struck through the wispy clouds. The different layers of materials used to make the tower reminded Annahvi vaguely of a cake, with a first layer of smooth stone and then alternating between wooden panels and cobble stone. Meanwhile a large staircase wound about the outside of the tower until it reached the very final floor, and all the while this tower precariously hovered on a small floating island made of dirt, surrounded by grass, flowers, and a wooden pathway which headed from the main entrance of the first floor, but was quickly cut off at the end of the island. This was clearly what Skylord_Lysander was taking about when he said they would need to build a bridge, Annahvi thought.

"Oh God..." Xephos dreaded, "We're going to have to build across, aren't we? We'll I've got plenty of stone, so I guess we could just start building."

He headed to a lower base of the floating island and began to place down stone. Annahvi was quick to assist him, being careful that he wouldn't fall to his death (again) and that there wouldn't be any monsters lurking in the darkness.

"You may want to build higher." Skylord_Lysander suggested.

"Don't worry," Annahvi said reassuringly, "We've got this!"

And it wasn't long after they reached the base of the Wizard's Tower.

"And there we are!" Xephos said, feeling a tad bit triumphant, "Um...there's a bit of water here...Aha! Yes, this is the front door!" He and Annahvi turned to see their dwarven friend and the Skylord who were cautiously following along.

"Is this the water that come at the top of there...?" Xephos asked as he watched a stream of water pour from the top of the tower and to the ground below, "Is that the Opium Den? So that water flows into the Opium Den, does it? That's quite cool..."

"Opium?" Annahvi asked, as if the word was foreign to her, which it was, "Is that what all of those plants were? Well they're very pretty, I'd love to plant some in a garden..."

"Ah...maybe some other time..." Honeydew said, looking at his clueless elf. She raised and eyebrow in confusion before shrugging off the strangeness and refocusing her attention on the falling water.

"Well, I'm actually quite thirsty right now." she said. She pulled out a small canteen and carefully stretched over the island, but at that moment Skylord_Lysander pulled her back from the water and away from the edge.

"Don't touch the water," Skylord_Lysander warned, "You don't want to know where it's been?"

"Where?" she began, but sudden realization hit her like a tone of bricks and she shuddered. "I'll just get some water from the shops."

Xephos couldn't help but laugh at his friend before they entered the tower, bust soon their humor was overpowered by a feeling of awe.

"Oh my God..." Annahvi said as she began to twirl around, trying to see everything possible. The first floor was a beautiful stone, almost marble, and every wall was encircles with books. Beyond that the circling staircase began and lead to the outside of the water, and columns of torches were aligned beautifully, giving a rather professional look. Quite ironic due to all of the previous explosions.

"Oh wow!" Xephos said, "This is a proper wizard's office, isn't it!"

"Where is this Fumblemore fellow anyway?" Annahvi asked.

"He's usually up the top, in his office."

And so, the four of them began up the wooden staircase, with Honeydew in front and Skylord_Lysander following behind. While the Space Man and Dwarf were busy trying not to fall to their deaths, Annahvi couldn't help but be amazed at the view from of the city, especially with the approaching dawn in the East.

"Wow..." she sighed, "This is such a beautiful view. Skylord_Lysander, you're so lucky to be able to see this all the time."

"Thank you," he chuckled, before ushering her forward, "Come now, we should go catch up with the others.

They took another turn and headed up a final set of stairs, but to everyone's confusion, the wizard was no where to be found.

"He's below us." Honeydew and Xephos said at the same time.

"We must've...we have to take the other path, Lysander!"

"The tower keeps changing..." he explain, with a skeptically glare from Honeydew, "All the explosions," he added.

"A likely story..." the dwarf said at they re-entered the first chamber. This time, though, they headed up a different flight of stairs and began to follow another catwalk system. There, Honeydew quickly entered the room and Annahvi courteously shut the door behind her.

"Fumblemore?" Skylord_Lysander called out. Annahvi looked around the smaller room in curiosity before she noticed a few stairs leading up to a closed door, and above it hung a sign which said 'WC'.

"What?" a nasal voice called from behind the door, "Eh! Who are you? I'm on the toilet! Give me a minute!"

"Oh God, Lewis." Honeydew whispered, "Turn your back on him! Give him some privacy!"

"Do you need any paper?" Xephos asked, making Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander look at him and Honeydew as if they were insane, which is questionable.

"Yes actually," Fumblemore said, receiving a shocked expression from Skylord_Lysander, but Annahvi simply shrugged it off, she had learned to deal with the crazy and senile, "Could you pass me one of those books? Pick one by Fabulo the Great, that's all they are good for."

"Oh God..." Annahvi groaned, hiding her face in the palm of her had. For what seemed like hours, the four of them looked around awkwardly at each other, on the walls, at the books, just about anywhere except for the door Fumblemore was behind.

"Are you nearly finished there?" Xephos asked, "We've got things to do!"

"Why are your licenses on the floor?" Skylord_Lysander asked, looking at the two scraps of paper which Honeydew and Xephos placed onto the feet of the door.

"No reason!" Xephos said, quickly picking them up. They waited for a while, examining the jukebox nearby, until they finally heard Fumblemore again.

"Oooh that's better." he sighed, making Annahvi shuddered. Finally the door opened and out stepped the old wizard, emphasis on '_old_'.

"Who are you?" he asked. Fumblemore was an old wrinkly man with short gray hair and a beard. His outfit was quite simple, a pair of black trousers with a blue jacket over a white shirt.

"Hello!" The Space Man greeted, "I am Xephos, hero of Minecraftia!"

"I am Honeydew of Khaz Modan."

"I'm Annahvi." the elf said with a friendly wave.

"I am the great wizard Fumblemore. What can I do for you Zapdos?"

"Zapdos?" Annahvi laughed, "Way to butcher your name."

"Can you help us?" Xephos said, ignoring the joke, "Our friend is sick. We must save him!"

"Who? What?" the wizard question. Instantly, the elf and dwarf looked at each other with looks of dread as the old man looked at 'Zapdos' in confusion.

"Old_Peculier is suffering from the taint of Israphel." Xephos explained, "He must be cured!"

After a few seconds of thinking, Fumblemore smiled at him and said, "I'm rather partial to Guinness myself."

"Oh dear..." Annahvi said as Xephos laughed.

"Lysander help us." Xephos said, "How do we get through to him?"

The Skylord looked up at the old man before saying in a raised voice, "Old_Peculier is sick!"

"Is there something you need?" Fumblemore continued, obliviously, "You will have to speak up. My ears are still ringing you see."

"OLD WIZARD!" Xephos shouted from the top of his lungs, "OUR FRIEND IS SICK WITH TAINT!"

"Taint eh? How awful. What's wrong with her?"

"HIM!" Annahvi yelled, "HIM! OLD_PECULIER IS SICK!"

"I could rustle a potions that cures all ills."

With a quick solution, Skylord_Lysander sighed in relief

"Perfect!" Xephos said with a slight jump, "That's just what we need."

"Would you like that?"

Instantly, the four of them vigorously nodded their up and down, looking straight up at the ceiling and then to the ground.

"Yes." Honeydew said slowly, "That would be goood you crazy bastard."

"Well first we need a bucket of water form the Pool of Life. Some dirt too yes, about 5? A few feathers probably might help. Oh maybe some sulfur? 5 sulfur."

"Oh shit." Xephos said, "You know where we get that from..." Annahvi looked at him uneasily before she started making a slight hissing noise.

"From Astely."

"Oh yes and...hmmmm...two Golden Apples. That should do it. Bring me these things and your sister will be cured!"

"Two Golden Apples?" Skylord_Lysander said in disbelief, "How are we supposed to get that? I only know of one in the town, and that is sacred."

"The one in the church?" Annahvi asked with a hint of dread, "Well this ought to be fun..."

"It's a proper quest, guys." Honeydew said excitedly, but somehow both of the other heroes knew that this would surely end in disaster.


	7. Chapter 5

Annahvi was quick to supply them with a bucket of plain water and Honeydew gave him a single block of dirt along with five arrows, but it was obvious that getting the Golden Apples and the Sulphur would prove a much greater challenge.

"So you don't have a Golden Apple?" Xephos asked to his two friends, "I'm _sure_ we had one..." He looked at the other two heroes in a mix of confusion and skepticism as Annahvi looked at the ground nervously.

"Look," Honeydew said defensively, "It was a long journey, we got hungry!"

"Did you give it to Granny_Bacon?" Xephos said with a chuckle.

"She said if I gave her a Golden Apple," the Dwarf explained "she'd let me lick her icing?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annahvi asked, "We're the two of you baking a cake?"

Honeydew and Xephos couldn't help but chuckle softly whilst Skylord_Jasper just looked away awkwardly.

"I'll explain some other time..." the space man chuckled.

"So hang on," Xephos said as he and his friend left the building, "Did you give the arrows, five arrows, and a bucket of water. So we need five dirt, five sulphur, and two golden apples. Have you actually got any sulphur- I _did_ see some sulphur in the trash can, I _think_, round the back of Astely's house. So if we kill Astely without Skylord looking um..."

"Are you sure this is wise?" Honeydew asked, "He's reintegrated into society."

"Also note that when you fail," Annahvi said, receiving an insulted glance. "I mean _if_. _If_ you fail, then Skylord_Lysander will hear the explosion and the damage will no doubt build _some_ suspicion that you knifed a Creeper."

Of course, whilst the three of them were talking together about killing Mr. Astely, they had accidentally strayed away from their original path, resulting in Xephos and Annahvi straying away from their other friends. However, with some momentary backtracking, they were able to regroup very quickly.

"Do you have any sulphur actually?" Xephos asked as they headed down to the Town Square.

"No," Honeydew responded "I didn't know when we'd need any! We've got the TNT, but something tells me giving TNT to the crazy wizard _might_ no be the best idea."

"Well if the people of this city didn't trust Fumblemore," Annahvi suggested, "Then they wouldn't be putting him in charge of all of the wizardry."

"But, I think the issue here is that we've got a wizard, blowing things up with a wand, and we're just assuming that he knows what he's doing, that he's like an alchemist, but alchemy is very different to wizardry. This Fumblemore guy, I'm not sure, I'm not sure he knows what he's doing. _But_ what else are we gonna do? We don't have much of an option."

"Especially if he can help Old_Peculier. Anyways, while we're here we might as well get some water from the Pool of Life."

However, there were none titled the Pool of Life. There was only the Fountain of Strength, the Pool of Memory, and a third pool that said 'In Memoriam Prince 5th'.

"Skylord_Lysander?" Annahvi asked, "Where's this 'Pool of Life'."

"Actually," the Skylord explained, "The Wizard's going senile. We renamed the Pool of Life after there were some drowning. It is now the Pool of Memory."

"Wow." she said in surprise, "How morbidly ironic."

While the elf and Skylord were discussing the titles of the ill-named bodies of water, Xephos had decided to go inside the Church.

The Church was rather small in relation to the several other buildings scattered in the city. There were only three or four rows of benches in collumns of two, and at the very end of the isle was Father_Braeburn.

"Father," Xephos said, looking behind to see the others behind him, "We require two Golden Apples! Is there any chance we could have the...er...Holy Apple?"

"What?" the Father said in shock, "But...no! This is the Church of the Holy Apple."

"Please, Father_Braeburn!" Annahvi pleaded, "It's very important, we can pay you back-"

"Now hold on!" Honeydew interrupted, "You don't between a dwarf and 'is gold!"

"It is urgent Father," Skylord_Lysander said, disregarding Honeydew and Annahvi's comments, "Peculier is ill!"

The Father looked at the heroes before turning to a chest behind the altar and he pulled out a gleaming golden apple.

"This is a sacred symbol." he declared, showing the heroes the apple. However, his expression appeared to change, as well as his voice, to a more considerate tone.

"But well...To be quite honest,"

"Yes?" Annahvi urged, only to be quickly scolded with a 'Don't rush me' look.

"This whole apple business is very old-fashioned these days. Not quite pulling in the punters, if you know what I mean."

Somehow, the three heroes didn't burst out into laughter.

"We know exactly with you mean!" Xephos responded.

"I could probably be persuaded to give this to you, but I would need something in return."

"You should start a church of song!" Honeydew quickly suggested.

"I've always been a big fan of music..." The Father said, the idea obviously being considered, "Yes!" he said instantly, "You understand me completely, dwarf friend! I like this idea! How about...You get me a music record! I'll make it like...a church of the Holy Record."

"Sounds easy enough." Xephos thought aloud.

"But, Lewis," Annahvi said softly, "We don't _have_ a record."

"Oh...bollocks."

"This is a brilliant idea. Bring me a record, and I will give you my apple." Father_Braeburn continued. Of course, the space man and elf were looking at each other with a face of unease.

"A golden record, by the way." the Father quickly added, "has to be a holy-type color!"

"I think I know where to get one, Father," Skylord_Lysander said, "We shall return."

And so, the three heroes, and Skylord_Lysander, left the Church of the soon-to-be-traded Holy Apple. As soon as they were outside, Annahvi turned to the Skylord.

"So, Skylord_Lysander, you said you knew where we could get a golden record?"

"Yes, you remember Jasper? He's an avid music fan. I shall take you to his house, hopefully he's not in."

"Why can't we just explain our cause?" Annahvi said as she followed behind.

"Jasper is a very...complicated person." Skylord_Lysander answered, searching to the right words.

However, the moment they got near Skylord_Jaspers home they saw the lights were on and everyone could clearly see his title.

"Blast!" Skylord_Lysander cursed.

"So what do you recommend we do now?" Annahvi asked to no one in particular.

"Let's sneak in." Honeydew whispered, quietly going into the room through an open door.

"Oh boy..." the elf sighed as she followed behind the space man into Skylord_Jasper's home.

"Be quite." Skylord_Lysander whispered.

Unfortunately, the golden record was no where to be found on the first floor, which only left the second floor, where Skylord_Jasper was.

"Don't stop moving to the funky funky beat!" his voice heard from the upper floor, "Ahh nothing beats a good bath."

They carefully looked up beyond the stairs and there was Skylord_Jasper, his back turned to them in a jacuzzi, an iron door blocking the only way to the second floor.

"Well that was useless." Xephos sighed as they all left the house.

"I do know of a way to get him out of the house," Honeydew suggested subtly, "but it's fairly extreme."

"You want to set fire to the house?" Xephos said, spying the flint and steel in the dwarf's hand, "I _don_'t think that's a very good idea. I knew what you were thinking."

"What is it with you a fire?" Skylord_Lysander mumbled in disbelief.

"Something tells me his parents didn't watch over him very well..." Annahvi suggested.

"We can probably get to the balcony from the sky platforms and check the top room." Skylord_Lysander suggested after some time.

Seeing that there was no better option, the three heroes had no other option than to agree with the Skylord's plan. So the four decided to head off to the sky tower again to reach the catwalks, but Xephos instantly remembered Mr. Astely.

"Annahvi," he said softly, "Can you and Simon distract Lysander, and you just take him to Granny Bacon's for a minute and I'll take out Astely."

"Sure." Honeydew said. "Hey, Lysander!"

"Hello, Honeydew."

"Let's have breakfast." the dwarf said. He looked at Honeydew and Annahvi in confusion, but noticing the rising sun he smiled.

"A good idea!" the Skylord_Lysander agreed.

"I just need to visit the bathroom." Xephos said, headed down to the 'Astely Residence.

"Hello dears," Granny_Bacon said as the dwarf, elf, and Skylord entered the shop.

"Hello, Granny_Bacon." Annahvi greeted warmly, "We just stopped by for some breakfast."

"Oh of course, what would you like?"

"Two porkchops please!" Skylord_Lysander said as he sat at the counter.

"I'll have some milk and an apple please," Annahvi said, sitting between the dwarf and Skylord.

"And let's see..." Honeydew said, "I'll have some sausage, some egg, some beans, some mushroom, a couple of french toast, some tomatoes on the side, maybe a few chips, a warm, milky mug of coffee, can I have a glass of orange juice too? And um...that'll be all."

Annahvi, Skylord_Lysander, and Granny_Bacon just starred at the very, _very_ hungry dwarf in shock. She later returned with two porkchops for Skylord_Lysander, a bucket of milk and an apple for Annahvi, and a plate of pork, mushrooms, bread, a bucket of milk and a bucket of water for Honeydew.

Of course, while the three of them were eating, a sudden loud **_BOOM!_** erupted, echoing into the shop, causing the plates in front of Skylord_Lysander to rattle a bit.

"THAT WAS NOTHING! JUST ONE OF FUMBLEMORE'S EXPERIMENTS!"

Honeydew screamed in a panic, looking around rather nervously as Annahvi looked to the Skylord who simply had a startled face. However, he simply just ate some more of his pork.

"Delicious!"

I guess the best way to a man's heart really _is_ through his stomach, Annahvi thought to herself.

The three of them quickly finished off their meals, and it would only be a few more minutes until Xephos arrived with, hopefully, _some_ sulphur.

"You should try my cooked fish." Granny_Bacon said to Honeydew, receiving a booming laugh from the dwarf, and a quick cough from Skylord_Lysander.

"On the house for you, deary." Granny_Bacon said, more to Honeydew than anyone else.

"Would you like to play some pool, Honeydew?" Skylord_Lysander asked.

"I think he's a bit preoccupied." Annahvi laughed as she watched Honeydew flirtatiously eating some of Granny_Bacon's fish.

"Then how about you?" Skylord_Lysander asked.

"I'm not very good at it." Annahvi shrugged, but Skylord_Lysander just chuckled.

"Then come here and I'll show you."

"Cues' in the chest, deary." Granny_Bacon said.

Annahvi grabbed a cue and handed it to Skylord_Lysander and he placed the balls on the table.

"So, like this?" Annahvi asked, but the moment she hit the white ball, it jumped off the table and almost hit the glass window.

"I think you're hitting too low..." Skylord_Lysander laughed, picking up the ball. He instantly placed his hands over the elf's and hunched right beside her.

"Like this..." he quickly repositioned her hands and the white ball thankfully didn't rocket through the air again.

"Thanks..." she chuckled.

"No problem." Skylord_Lysander said. She turned to face him with a bright smile and Skylord_Lysander at that point realized how close they were. His hands were still over hers, their faces were in a close proximity and his body was practically on top of hers. Annahvi noticed his face become slightly red as he quickly pulled away.

"Something wrong?" she asked with a laugh.

"Um no." Skylord_Lysander, rubbing the back of his head nervously; how had she not noticed how close they were. Thankfully, the Skylord's attention moved to the Space Man who was entering the shop.

"Oh, hi Lewis." Annahvi smiled.

"Lewis," Honeydew said, looking up at the charts over the ovens in the kitchen. "I think she might gold apples; it's on the menu."

"Oh god, eight diamonds!"

"That's a lot of diamonds..." Annahvi said, putting away her cue

"Do you have any golden apples, you lovely grey lower bearded minx?"

"Lower-bearded?" the elf asked, making Xephos snicker.

"Oh I have no beard dear, none at all."

"Wait," Annahvi began, "what does-"

"It's best not to ask." Honeydew said quickly.


	8. Chapter 6

"Granny_Bacon?" Annahvi interrupted, "Do you have any golden apples or not?"

"Yes dear," she confirmed, "but they're very rare. I'd have to charge you."

"How much would you charge me for them?" Honeydew asked.

The withered shop owner turned to face the prices listed above their heads on the overhang, squinted at them for a moment and then turned around to the dwarf and elf. She was just about to open her mouth to say the price, but before she could even say a word, there was another loud explosion which rattled the shop.

"Heavens to Betsy! What was that?"

"Damn it Fumblemore." Skylord_Lysander muttered.

"Anyways," Annahvi interrupted, "The prices for a golden apple would be..."

"Eight diamond."

Another explosion erupted into the sky.

"Even for me?" Honeydew said with innocently with a wink.

"For you dear, I can go to seven. You can work off the rest later." she finished with a rather sly wink.

"That's still a lot, however..." the elf sighed.

And yet _another_ explosion.

"Fumblemore isn't usually this bad." the Skylord said softly to the elf. A hist of suspicion gleamed in his eyes and without another word he headed towards the entrance and left the shop.

"WAS THAT ME?" the wizard shouted.

"Skylord_Lysander," Annahvi said, following after him, "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to check on Mr. Astley."

"Oh crumbs..." Honeydew sighed as he walked behind.

As they turned the corner, he caught sight of Xephos running towards their general direction.

"So how was Creeper Killing?" Annahvi asked with a rather joking voice.

"Shut up..." he muttered. They followed behind Skylord_Lysander nervously and waited beside him as he inspected the Astley Residence. He starred at the door for a short amount of time, and in that small amount of time Xephos and Honeydew had hoped that they could evade the Skylord's suspicions.

"Where's the sign gone?" he asked, "And where's Mr. Astley?"

The three heroes looked at each other nervously whilst Skylord_Lysander looked through the window in an attempt to find the reformed Creeper-citizen known as Astley.

"Crap. He's onto us." Xephos whispered nervously,"Don't...just say...just say um - I don't know what to do! Let's run...let's run away...um..."

"WE DIDN'T BURN HIM!" Honeydew scream nervously, making Skylord_Lysander and Annahvi turn to him with confused expressions.

"Um...Mr. Astley..." Annahvi began to say, "He must've...um...stepped out?"

"Yes..." the Skylord responded as he looked through the house, "I suppose that would make sense, but still..."

"How mysterious..." Honeydew said in a mock voice.

"Maybe, though," Xephos quickly interrupted, "in one of the chest in...the...in Skylord_Jasper's house, there is gonna be some, some sulphur."

"That's a possibility." Annahvi agreed, "Is he in his home?"

"He can't be still havin' a bath," Honeydew added as they walked up to his home, "Surely..."

But unfortunately as the four of them were headed to the doors of his apartment, they saw his title right outside the windows.

"Goodness sake..." Honeydew muttered.

"Let's go to the top," Xephos suggested as they left Skylord_Jasper's house, "and well go. We'll do the...the dive from the top."

"See this is the problem when you need lots of different objects," Honeydew stated, "you get distracted and you forget that you have to get different stuff."

As Xephos continued beyond the cemetery and to the Sky Tower, Honeydew had stopped right behind the empty graves. Annahvi was right behind the Space Man the entire time, but when she turned to see the dwarf had stopped suddenly, she rejoined him, along with the Skylord.

"Um...Simon?" she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting up to the top!" he said, with a gleam of determination in his eyes. "Let's push it do the limit!" He stood on top of the stone slates which would be used to cover the graves, and left into the waterfall and by using his extreme dwarf strength, he began to swim up to the top of the floating island.

Unfortunately, this swimming process possessed about the same speed as walking through Soul Sand in iron boots. Annahvi quickly realized that the gleam in Honeydew's eyes was actually a gleam of stupidity.

"That's dangerous, Hero." Skylord_Lysander said as Honeydew had reached a little over two feet from the ground.

"I know what I'm doing Skylord. I know what I'm doing. I'm breaking the laws of physic!"

Annahvi looked up at her dwarven friend before sighing and sitting down on the stone slates. He was now about 2-and-a-half feet from the ground.

"That's dangerous and _slow_."

"Much like the dwarf himself..." she chuckled softly. Skylord_Lysander replied with a chuckle before she realized that she had just said that aloud. Oops.

Eventually, Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander had given up on the dwarf and decided to climb the Sky Tower and rejoin Xephos. They spotted him headed towards the same catwalk path which lead to Fumblemore's tower and around the same time, Honeydew still hadn't reached solid floating Earth.

"There-There's actually a wooden pathway here, Simon, actually. We could probably just could use this."

"I'M UP!" The dwarf cheered as he reached the top of the island. He laughed victoriously, with hearty triumph in his voice.

"Honeydew..." Skylord_Lysander said looking down at his .

The dwarf turned around to face his friends with a deflated spirit. All the while, Skylord_Lysander chuckled smugly.

"Goddammit." he grumbled.

All the while, Xephos was walking on the catwalk to the floating island, and only at this point was his presence noted by the Skylord.

"Are you vandalizing the walkways?" he asked to the Space Man.

"Don't worry." Annahvi chuckled, "I can say that he would never intend to cause any damage to-"

_BOOM!_ There was a large explosion that started spontaneously and suddenly:

"Woah! SHIT! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Well at least everyone could come to one conclusion: Xephos was shit when it came to fighting Creepers.

The shockwave was so enormous, it knocked Annahvi back into Skylord_Lysander and Honeydew into a nearby fence. No doubt that everyone in the entire city could hear it.

"Ugh..." Annahvi groaned, "Sorry 'bout that..." she looked up at Skylord_Lysander who was now leaning against the far side of the catwalk.

"It's nothing..." he grunted, trying to stand upright. Annahvi smiled nervously before pushing herself off of the Skylord and turning to see the destroyed island. He joined her on the other edge to see the remains of the explosion.

"THE TEMPLE!"

"Did Lewis actually _fall_ in one of the empty graves?" Honeydew asked.

"Well we were very close to them." Annahvi commented "Oh the irony..."

"What's going on down there?" Fumblemore called out from the nearby tower.

"WHAT THE DEVIL WAS THAT!" Skylord_Jasper screamed furiously, "FUMBLMOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Eh? Me?"

"I fear Xephos will be gone for a while." Skylord_Lysander added.

Annahvi sighed as she rested her arms against the fence.

"We should wait for him above Skylord_Jasper's house..." he suggested. And so, in mutual agreement the three of them headed to a floating tower just above Skylord_Jasper's house.

After several minutes of waiting, Skylord_Lysander let out a deep sigh, "Is he lost?"

"Oh no - he's here, he's here..." Honeydew said, looking down the catwalks, as Xephos was walking towards them.

"Okay, okay!" he said climbing up the stairs, "I-I'm with you. Um...so is this the house down here?" he looked down the edge of the cliff to see a roof completely crated of glass.

"Oh right! I can see a load of chest, actually in the glass!"

"No doubt one of those have the record!" Annahvi said as she peeped her head over the ledge.

"Just drop a bucket of water off, I guess. How many buckets of water have we got?"

"I've got one..." Annahvi said pulling out a pail full with water.

"I've got two. We can make a nice safe waterfall to go down."

"How safe is it going to be if we're going to impact on a glass floor?" Annahvi asked sarcastically as she set her water flowing down the ledge. Xephos chuckled softly as he poured his two buckets beside, creating a small waterfall which landed directly onto the ledge of the roof.

"Now we need to carefully descend..."

Honeydew bravely headed down before Skylord_Lysander stood on the edge and prepared himself for the dive.

"For Victory!" he cheered. He began to step off the edge of the floating platform, but out of curiosity he saw Annahvi frozen in place. The only movement she seemed make was a constant looking over the edge, until she finally backed away and pushed herself against the wall.

"Annahvi..." Skylord_Lysander chuckled smugly, "Are you scared?"

The elf instantly perked up her head and stepped forward to glare straight at the Skylord.

"No I'm not!" she replied defensively, "I'm not scarred of anything!"

"Oh really?" he grinned, "Then why don't you jump? Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"I was going to!" she said with a slight laugh in her voice.

Xephos looked at them in slight confusion as he stood between his two companions, "Um guys..."

"Just jump already!"

"Don't rush me!"

The two of them continued to stare at each other in a combination of rivalry and mischief.

"Admit your scared!"

"I'M NOT SCARED!"

"Oh balls to this..."

Within one swift movement, Xephos was down the waterfall and to the glass roof, and behind him were Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander, almost screaming as they tumbled downward.

Xephos quickly followed after them and landed beside Honeydew. He quickly regained his balance and starred around to see that he had landed on the roof. On the bright side, they had gotten to the roof, on the down side, Annahvi was going to murder him later.

"We've done it!"

"Aw yeah!" Honeydew cheered, but their victory was short lived when they saw Skylord_Lysander begin to slip off the side of the roof and land on the balcony. He fumbled in the water and flailed his arms wildly, grabbing for any form of leverage. Unfortunately, the first thing he managed to grab onto was Annahvi's cloak. And without any warning other than a slight tug, the two of them continued their decent down the side of the house until they hit the balcony.

"Oh God, Lysander! I think he and Annahvi may have gotten blown away by the water - we've lost them."

"Uh oh."

It was was official, Annahvi was going to murder Xephos for this.

She landed, back to back with Skylord_Lysander, as she groaned slightly, her minding spinning and trying to recollect the events that had just happened.

"Oh God..." she moaned, "I'm so dizzy."

"Not that our conversation isn't stimulating," Skylord_Lysander said, squished between the wooden floor below and the elf above, "But could you get off me!"

"Oh..." Annahvi rolled off of Skylord_Lysander and stood up, "Sorry about that." She took his hand and helped him up before starring up at the roof from where they fell before sighing.

"Damn it," Skylord_Lysander Xephos...when I see him again, I'm going to-"

"WHAT WAS THAT NOISE!" Skylord_Jasper screamed in anger. And before the two of the could react, the door to the balcony swung open and Skylord_Jasper stood there with a wooden rod in his hand.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Skylord_Jasper!" Annahvi said nervously, "I-I'm terribly sorry about this! Look, I-I can explain! Y-You see-"

"RUN!"

Skylord_Lysander grabbed Annahvi's arm and headed to the waterfall. He began to swim up the waterfall, and seeing that there was no other option than to attempt to explain the strange situation, she quickly fallowed after. Skylord_Jasper tried to properly swim up the water as well but eventually both the Skylord and elf managed to get high enough that they could jump over the fence and off the balcony successfully.

"LYSANDER I WILL END YOU!" Skylord_Jasper screamed.

The two of them hit the ground with a thud and the two of them continued to run away from the furious Skylord. However, Skylord_Jasper stopped short for a moment to gather all of this thoughts properly.

"But if water is on my roof..." he thought out loud, "then..."

Annahvi saw an open opportunity and grabbed Skylord_Lysander's arm and continued to run down the street.

After a few moments, they reached Skylord_Jasper's home again and ran up the stairs to see Honeydew searching through the second floor, even in the jacuzzi.

"Jasper found us!" Skylord_Lysander said between pants of breath, "We will distract him while you escape! Hurry and find the diamond. Record, even!"

"JUST LOOK AT MY BALCONY!" Skylord_Jasper yelled from the bottom floor, chasing the two once again in hot pursuit.

Annahvi could hear him climbing up the stairs now, causing her heart to beat increasingly fast. They had to think of some sort of diversion and quickly!

"LYSANDERRRRRRRRRR!" he said in a mix of a growl and scream. The elf quickly grabbed a slightly wet towel - which happened to be a lovely shade of pink - and flung it at him. There was an audible _SPLAT_ as it hit his face, and Skylord_Lysander and Honeydew had to cover their mouths to stifle their laughter. Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander ran down the stairs, grabbing another pink towel, before running out of the house again.

"Hey Jasper," he yelled, "Nice pink towels!"

And even as the two of them were running from a furious Skylord in an attempt to by their fellow heroes precious time, Annahvi couldn't help but giggle as she continued to run down the streets.

She and Skylord_Lysander laughed as they could hear Skylord_Jasper chasing them, but on the sidelines was Father_Braeburn as he watched from the church.

"Please, I'm sure this can be resolved without violence!"

"BALLS TO THAT!" she screamed with a laugh, "HE'S _GONNA_ KILL US!"


	9. Chapter 7

Honeydew was in the searching water outside of Skylord_Jasper's home, trying to recollect all of Xephos' lost items, especially the golden record, which they went to all of that bloody trouble to get.

"So have you fond my record yet, man?" the Space Man asked as he returned to his dwarven friend.

"I'm looking in the water where you died."

"Oh God, there's a pork chop over here, and there's some mushroom soup." Xephos quickly picked up a slab of meat and a small bowl. "Has all my stuff just been scattered? There's an axe here..."

"I've got some of your goodies." Honeydew said as he rummaged through his inventory.

"There's a bit...a bit of stuff here..." - a few slates of stone - "God there's, like, a fucking whirlpool _here_..." Xephos looked over from the moat-like body of water to the fencing of Jasper's home. "Oh God, I can see some of my goodies up the there, actually."

"I'm throwing some of them down here, Lewis..."

"There's a cake; I got a cake out of the chest - did I tell you? He had a cake in his bedside cabinet." Xephos said as he placed down a wool block and climbed up the water.

"You got a clock..." Honeydew continued, playing absolute no attention to what his friend was saying until he saw him climbing up the ladder and joking began to sing a high, heavenly note.

"Have you found the record?" Xephos asked as he came down from the waterfall.

"No...I-I can't see the record, but I _can _some of your stuff just sort of...spazzing out where you died." As he watched Honeydew retrieve some of Xephos' items, he could faintly hear Skylord_Jasper yell triumphantly. "AHAH! My record!"

Bollocks!

"Oh crap," he told Honeydew, "I think Jasper's got the record back." Then, the two men could hear Skylord_Lysander calling out, "He has the record!"

To which, Xephos replied with a frustrated half-groan, half-yell. However, the dwarf in the water couldn't help but laugh at their failure.

"WE'RE SO TERRIBLE!" he laughed, causing Xephos to laugh along, easing his irritation.

"Our escape route was just awful!" Xephos said between laughs as he built a quick tower to recollect his stuff. "I got wedged on a fence, and then, like _died_ of drowning."

"Who has the record? Does Jasper have it? Did he get it back?"

"I think Jasper must've got it back. Oh fuckin' hell..." Xephos tried to lean closer to the ledge to grab his remaining items.

"Oh for fucks sake!" Honeydew swore loudly. Just as the two of them were collecting the last of their items, someone suddenly spoke up.

"What are you doing!?"

Xephos and Honeydew quickly turned their heads around to see Skylord_Lysander and Annahvi staring at the two of them in confusion. Skylord_Lysander had a look of complete exasperation while Annahvi simply tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Er... We just... We just - nothing?!" Xephos said, almost falling off his stone column.

"We cleared the front door for you..." Annahvi said, pointing her thumb in the general direction of the entrance of the building. "But I mean...if you guys-"

"Lysander!" someone yelled, "Annahvi, watch out!"

The Skylord turned his head around in confusion to see Father_Braeburn yelling at them with Skylord_Jasper in hot pursuit, with an iron sword in his hands.

"He's coming to kill us!" Skylord_Lysander screamed before taking Annahvi by her arm and running off.

"Jasper, calm yourself!" the Father said nervously as he watched the two Skylords and Eef run off. Annahvi tried her best to keep up with Skylord_Lysander, while watching everything that was going on. Father_Braeburn and Skylord_Jasper were chasing the two of them around the fountain which was a monument to Prince 5th. Meanwhile, Honeydew and Xephos were running up to Skylord_Jasper. Suddenly, Honeydew accidentally spilled a bucket of water all over Skylord_Jasper, making him flinch back and shiver.

"Oh dear..." Father_Braeburn muttered softly as he sought refuge in the Church of the Soon-to-be Record. "I better leave the apple in the church."

"AHHH COLD WATER!" Skylord_Jasper screamed. Annahvi couldn't help but giggle softly as she saw the Skylord try to avoid getting caught in the water. She looked over at Skylord_Lysander who also found the sight amusing, but soon the two of them were off again, running from Skylord_Jasper, with pink towels in their hands.

"Have Lysander and Annahvi got Jasper's towels, is that what's going on? And he's chasing 'em?" Xephos asked as he stood on the sidelines, as if watching a Running of the Bulls, he watched for a few more moments before huffing softly, "Let's go back in. Let's go back in and rerob the house."

"Rerob..." Honeydew thought aloud as they made their way to his home, "I think the correct term is to...um...reburglarize..."

The two of them started on the first floor, searching every wall and opening every chest in hopes of finding the golden record, but all they could find was a few plants.

As Xephos wandered up the first floor, he began to search through the chests near the jacuzzi. "There's just pink wool, Simon." he said as he stuffed a few towels and wool blocks in his inventory, "There's just towels and mushroom stew."

"Dammit!" Honeydew said as he joined his friend.

"Do you reckon he might've put it upstairs again?" Xephos asked as he headed towards the chest which was hidden behind the bed. He searched the chest which had recently held the golden record, and to his joy, he found that the chest currently had the record again.

"Oh God, he has, he's put it back in his chest! Okay, he put it back in his chest, and there's also a clock in here! I've got it - I've got it! I've got it!" Xephos quickly placed the record and clock in his inventory before he turned to Honeydew.

"Can you hold onto it, this time?" he asked as he tossed the record to his friend, "Since you are actually _able_ to defend yourself, since you've actually got armor and..." but Xephos' sentence trailed off when he saw Honeydew place down a small sign in front of the chest.

"I like to leave a calling card." the dwarf explained.

"Oh God! You're gonna leave him a _note_?!" Xephos laughed, "That's just _perfect_!"

"I mean, some people leave, like, a rose..." Honeydew shrugged, before stepping back to admire their note to Skylord_Jasper.

"Thanks for the record, Fuckface."

Xephos burst out into laughter, "Amazing! Let's get the fuck out of here."

"Okay," Honeydew laughed, "give me the record."

"I gave it to you, it's behind you on the floor." Xephos looked near the stairs and could hear Skylord_Jasper's footsteps along with his white title approaching them.

"He's coming! He's coming!"

"Oh God! OH GOD!" Honeydew quickly scrambled for the record as Xephos quickly ran outside to the loading dock for Skylord_Jasper's air craft.

"Let's get out!" he yelled to the dwarf, he headed out the door, constantly yelling 'Get out!' and 'Balcony!' He headed up the stair to the airship before looking down into the water.

"Oh yeah," Honeydew said sarcastically, "Because this went _so_ well last time..."

Without thinking, Xephos jumped off and into the water below, quickly followed by Honeydew. He hit the water, only a few meters away from solid ground. He took in a deep breath after resurfacing. Once both Honeydew and Xephos had gotten onto solid ground, they could just faintly hear from afar Skylord_Lysander.

"Jasper, you're a fag!"

The two heroes couldn't help but laugh when they heard this, along with a rather loud "AGHHHHHH!" from Skylord_Jasper, before they rejoined by the waterside.

"Lewis," Honeydew said as his friend was walking towards him, "Some of your stuff is here."

"Oh God, is it?" he asked eagerly. And when he reached the dwarf, he was happy to see a small golden clock along with a few other miscellaneous objects.

"Oh, my clock. Oh good, good! Hang on..." he searched through his inventory once again, "I've got two clocks now..."

"Here's your roses..." Honeydew said, throwing a small bouquet of red flowers at him, "There's your sulphur, that we need."

"There's a clock for you, pal. It might come in handy." Xephos said as he handed him the other clock. "I wonder if we could bribe Granny with some wool? We've got loads of, like, cloth and dye and stuff. Ya know? She might like all that stuff for, like, knitting and stuff. What do you think? Do reckon you think we could get away with it and get a second golden apple off her?"

"Well we've got enough...Well I've got seven diamond." Honeydew said as they headed back towards the main square of the city.

"Do you?!"

"Is that how many she asked for? I think it _was_ actually."

Xephos looked at his friend as they entered past the city gate to see Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander, whose immediate reaction was, "You're out there again!?" But Xephos could help but look at Honeydew questioningly.

"Where did you get _seven_ diamond?!"

The dwarf turned to him with a combination of embarrassment and mischief before replying softly, "Um...from Jasper's chests..."

"Oh God! Really?! You sneaky bastard..."

"I'm just gonna see Granny_Bacon."

"Are you gonna buy the Golden Apple?" Xephos asked

"Yes." the dwarf replied before walking into the store. "Hi there, my darling." the dwarf greeted charmingly. Granny_Bacon replied with a smile to both Honeydew and his friends, but she quickly changed her expression to a more cautious face.

"Look out, behind you!" she warned, and Honeydew and Xephos turned around to see Skylord_Jasper in the corner of the room.

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air momentarily with only the two heroes staring at him, until finally he ran out of the building, just as Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander had entered.

"That no-good Jasper..." Granny_Bacon huffed before turning back to the dwarf, "How can I help you dears?"

"I would like to purchase your finest apple. A Golden one!"

"Give me the record pal," Xephos suggested, "I'll go and give it to the Reverend."

As Granny_Bacon turned to take out a Golden Apple, Honeydew turned to the Space Man and handed him the record.

"Come Xephos," Skylord_Lysander said, "before Jasper notices."

"Okay," he agreed as they headed out the door, leaving Annahvi and Honeydew to get the second apple. "Let's get this handed in and given to safely to, um...to the Father." Meanwhile, Granny_Bacon had returned with a Golden Apple in her hands.

"Something to sink your teeth into...have you got the..." And before she could continue her sentence, Honeydew quickly slapped down a small bag full to the seams with seven diamonds. "Oh very nice."

"Seven diamond." Honeydew said softly to Annahvi, "That's probably one for every decade she's been alive."

Annahvi giggle softly before playfully punching his shoulder.

"That's not very nice, Simon." she teased as Granny_Bacon handed him the apple.

"Thank you, my love." Honeydew said as he searched for the apple.

"Oops, it's rolled behind you, dear." Granny_Bacon said, pointing to the table behind them. Annahvi quickly picked up the apple and shined it off before placing it her inventory and smiled to sweet, eccentric, old lady. As the two of them headed out of the door, Annahvi smiled eagerly when she saw Xephos and Skylord_Lysander walking down the road.

"Oh great!" she said, showing them the apple, "We got it just in time!"

"We managed to get our apple as well." Skylord_Lysander said.

"Now we can save Old_Peculier." Xephos said optimistically before continuing on the subject of the potion, "I don't really like the fact that _dirt _is going into this potion, but I guess it's okay."

"Drop by anytime you want to sample my fruit dear!" Granny_Bacon called out. Honeydew smiled back at her before he jointed his friends.

"She's a rather nice lady." Annahvi commented as they saw Xephos who was digging up a small ditch in the middle of the hill. But the moment the two of them, and Skylord_Lysander, saw him, he quickly covered back up the hole which he had just started to dig.

"What was that?" Skylord_Lysander asked.

"Nothing!" Xephos replied nervously before heading towards the Sky Tower. As Honeydew had already started to climb the stairs and soon Xephos, and Annahvi started up the stairs, followed by Skylord_Lysander. They continued the same way back towards the Fumblemore tower when suddenly they could hear the very same wizard's voice.

"Shazzam!"

Xephos and Annahvi turned to each other with a hint of dread in their faces before continuing to the tower. They knew that Fumblemore's spell casting could only end two ways.

_BOOM!_

"Oh fuckin' hell..." he cursed as they headed across the bridge, "Thank you, Fumblemore."

"SHIT!" the senile wizard yelled.

The two of them couldn't help but laugh at the old man's swearing before entering the tower.

"I'm surprised That's not really the words for wizards is it; yelling 'Shit'?"

"Well he yelled bugger, before." Honeydew added.

"Once you become an old," Annahvi said as they turned up the stairs, "I think you no longer care for manners."

They stopped for a moment to see that Honeydew was no long with them, causing everyone to wonder where he went.

"Simon, which way have you gone?" Xephos called out, "Have you gone to his office or have you gone to his bathroom?"

"I've gone to his bathroom." Honeydew called out, "I just thought I'd make use of the facilities."

"I think he went to his office." Xephos suggested, making the elf and Skylord nod in agreement, before they turned around and headed up the other stairs. Just as they did though, they could hear Honeydew yell in disgust.

"Oh God!" he yelled, "It's where the water come out of!"

"Yeah," Annahvi called out, "Don't you remember?" To which, the dwarf replied with a disgusted groan.

They continued out the tower, and across the catwalk, until they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Shit!" Xephos swore. A section of the platform had completely been destroyed by Fumblemore, who was, actually, on the other side of the catwalks.

"Oh dear, oh dear." the old man mumbled.

"You old fool!" Xephos yelled to him.

"Could you repair my walkway please?" Fumblemore asked, causing Annahvi to hit her forehead with an audible _SLAP!_

None the less, Xephos nervously walked to the edge of the walkway and began to place down - of all things - Skylord_Jasper's towels. When he was done placing a lovely shade of violet between the two wooden beams, he turned to the wizard again.

"I put dome some carpet!"

"Excellent!"

"Good," Honeydew said, "Could we go inside, please?".

"Yeah," Annahvi agreed, "It's getting rather chilly out here."

And without any words, Fumblemore headed into the top of the tower, letting everyone else walk in.

The wizard turned to look at all four people in the room with a hint of wisdom in his eyes. Perhaps this old man could actually help Old_Peculier, Annahvi though.

"Now who are you?" he asked.

Perhaps not...

"OKAY WIZARD!" Xephos yelled as he stood at the end of the table. "WE BROUGHT THE STUFF!"

"WE'VE GONNA GIVE YOU THE STUFF!" as the Space Man said this, he and Annahvi placed their apples on the table along with the sulphur, and bucket of water of memories.

"Oh right," Fumblemore said as he picked up the objects, "the potion for your mother!"

"Sure..."Annahvi said in defeat, "Let's go with that."

"This has been an epic quest." Honeydew said, making Annahvi and Xephos agree, "I think I would've preferred, like, ten bear asses than do all this stuff..." Xephos laughed in agreement, almost forgetting Fumblemore was busy with the potion.

"Perfect!" the wizard spoke up, turning everyone's attention to him, "Let me just put it all together."

'SHIT'

Honeydew looked at Annahvi and Xephos nervously before turning to Skylord_Lysander for advice.

"Should we- Should we get out of the way?" Xephos nervously asked Skylord_Lysander. "'Cause his potions tend to be rather explosive."

"I suggest we back off." Skylord_Lysander said, trying to squeeze himself into the corner of the room.

"You may want to stand back." the wizard agreed. Honeydew, at first, headed out the door, but after some consideration he settled for standing next to the door. Xephos tried to make himself as small as possible in the opposite corner of the room as Skylord_Lysander with Annahvi hiding next to him.

"Oh God!" Xephos squeaked nervously, "What's gonna happen?!"

"Please don't blow it up..." Honeydew repeated, as if praying to Notch. Annahvi had one of her hands clenched tightly on the bookcase behind them, and her other hand was holding onto Xephos'. He looked at her, noticing the anxiety in her face before he squeezed her hand nervously. They all waited anxiously with baited breath until Fumblemore turned back to the table with a smile of triumph.

"Tada!" He cheered, "Success!" Annahvi happily let go of the bookshelf and slipped her hand out of Xephos' before everyone once again gathered around him.

"Success indeed!" Xephos agreed, as Fumblemore handed him the potion. He took the potion and looked at it in confusion.

"He gave me a bucket of water." he said.

"Is that it? A bucket of water?" Honeydew asked in a mix of sarcasm and irritation, "Wow..."

Both Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander looked at the potion in confusion before they faced the wizard again.

"It looks like..." Skylord_Lysander said, "muddy water with two Golden Apples and some feathers in it."

"And some sulphur." Annahvi added. Instantly Honeydew and Xephos laughed loudly.

"It was 50/50 chance but it didn't explode."

"Okay," Xephos said, trying to act serious, "Well, we'll get this to Old_Peculier _right_ away!"

"Come," Skylord_Lysander said, "We must hurry...as little faith I have in this as I do."

"I hope your daughter gets better!"

"Thank you, Fumblemore!" Xephos laughed.

"Thank you!" Honeydew called out as well, "...You crazy old bugger. Let's get the hell out of here before he blows us all up."

"Agreed." Annahvi said as she quickly headed out the door.


	10. Chapter 8

"Okay," Xephos confirmed as he hurried through the city square. "Good, I've got the potion. Um...which is the quickest way?"

"This way!" Annahvi declared as she followed beside her friend. She quickly tugged on his sleeve and they quickly headed down a street beyond the church and across to Granny_Bacon's shop.

"Perfect!" the Space Man exclaimed. Just as he and Annahvi had reached the corner or the shops, they could see Honeydew following down the perpendicular road until they all rejoined.

"Can you defend me, in case something attacks us on the way, Simon?" Xephos asked his dwarven friend as they headed up the stairs to Skylord_Lysander's home., "I saw a zombie..."

"Okay." the dwarf agreed, giving his friend a reassuring pat on the back. Unfortunately, Xephos had yet to calm his nerves, and the moment Honeydew slapped his back, he instantly stumbled forward, almost tripping onto the stairs and dropping the bucking which held the potion.

"Oh shit!" he cursed. Annahvi quickly pulled Xephos back from tripping, and once she was certain he had regained his balance, she gave Honeydew a look of confusion.

"That was me, sorry..." he admitted sheepishly. Both two heroes looked at him for a moment before the three of them began laughing together.

"Oh, Simon..." Annahvi chuckled, "You had me worried for a moment."

"It's okay..." he said reassuringly, "I got your back, unfortunately I got an arrow in it."

The elf rolled her eyes as her two friends climbed up the stairs where Old_Peculier awaited them. "Old man!" Xephos called out as he and Honeydew disappeared from her sight, "Here is the potion!"

Annahvi smiled with relief as she followed behind her friends, "Thank Notch; Old_Peculier's going to be just fine...

But just as she was about to reach the second level, she could hear someone enter the house as well.

"Oh!" Annahvi wedged her head between the stairs and the ceiling of the first floor to see the Skylord close the door and walk into the living room. "Skylord_Lysander, there you are! I was wondering what was talking you so long."

"We're you worried about me?" he joked with a chuckle. She smile back at him before answering, "A little." The Skylord looked at her with a rather perplexed look. Did she know he was joking, or was she being honest? Annahvi looked back at him and tilted her head to the side in confusion

"Skylord_Lysander?" she began, but he quickly shrugged it off,.

"Annahvi," he said, joining her on the stairs, "You don't have to be so formal with me." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"You can just call me Lysander." he explained, moving past her and up the stairs. Still, the elf looked up at him with a slightly confused look.

"What was that all about?" she said softly.

"Please close the door on the way in..." Skylord_Lysander said as he reached the top of the stairs.

"We were in a hurry!" Honeydew replied.

"Drink this," Xephos said, showing Old_Peculier the potion, "and recover your strength." The Inn keeper took the potion in his hands and examined it for a moment before turning his head away in a grimace, "It looks...horrible."

"But it is for your own good, Peculier!" the Space Man said sternly, "You must be well again."

"Please, Old_Peculier?" Annahvi asked in a rather motherly tone, "We wish for you to be healthy."

"It tastes nice!" Honeydew added, "Like strawberries and single malt whiskey!"

Old_Peculier looked at his friends and comrades before reluctantly taking a large gulp. Once he swallowed, he let out a sigh of relief and stood up, a gleam of revitalized strength

"I feel much better." he said, "Thank you, heroes."

The four heroes looked at each other with triumph before the dwarf spoke up once more. "So it _worked_!" he said with a hint of surprise, "Fumblemore isn't just a crazy old wizard-y bastard; he's a genius!"

"Well I'm not sure it was so much the muddy water and feathers, as the two Golden Apples that were in there. Ya know? They do recover your health to full" Xephos commented.

"I remember everything." Old_Peculier continued, "My mind is clear now. I need to follow the footsteps of my father. He went missing one day from his post outside the city. I have tried to find out what happened to him but to no avail. I must try again."

"Well this is exciting!" Xephos said, turning to his friends for agreement.

"I feel 20 years younger!" Old_Peculier added optimistically. But Skylord_Lysander, Honeydew, and Annahvi had yet to agree with his statement.

"You don't look it." Skylord_Lysander said rather bluntly, making the elf snicker.

"Maybe shave first through, eh?" Honeydew suggested, but Old_Peculier shook his head, "That can wait!"

"Yeah...Shaving can wait, Simon." Xephos concurred with a chuckle as he rummaged through his inventory. "Alright, I need some gear, actually. I've got a sword, an iron sword, and a pick as well and I've got plenty of food."

"I've got some boots." Honeydew suggested, tossing his friend a pair of leather boots.

"Oh lovely, some leather boots." the Space Man quickly picked up the boots and inspected them. "They look...terrible." He and Honeydew laughed together as he placed on the boots and took note of how ridiculous he looked. They were a mismatch of different cloths and color, and were rather bulky.

"It's like you're taking part in a sack race." Honeydew laughed.

"Okay! Let's go. " Xephos said quickly, as to deter from his boots. "Where are we going?"

"I will lead you to his post." Old_Peculier said as they headed down and out of Skylord_Lysander's house.

"Finally some exploring." Annahvi cheered softly as she walked beside Skylord_Lysander. He looked to her with a smile in a mix of amusement and agreement.

Annahvi was such an impulsive personality to a point at which her cheerfulness was contagious, but perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing. Even though they were in a time of uncertainty, she was always there with a smile on her face, and a gleam of confidence in her eyes. The only time he could recall seeing her unhappy was when they reached the Yogcave. He remembered seeing her try to choke back the tears and sobs. Suddenly Skylord_Lysander couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for his lack of empathy towards her.

Whilst all of this was happening, she looked up at her friend in confusion. "Lysander," she said, "Are you alright?" He instantly snapped out of his thoughts, blinking a few times, before turning his face the other direction, trying to hide a faint blush. "You're face is a little red, and you've been acting a little strange." she noted, "Are you getting ill?"

"N-No..." he said softly, "I just-"

But before he could say anything else, a blur of black flashed past his line of sight and suddenly a spider was attacking Old_Peculier.

"Oh God!" Xephos said as Skylord_Lysander made quick work of the eight-legged creature, "Careful Old_Peculier!"

"Almost killed you so soon after recovery!" the Skylord noted, sheathing his sword. They continued beyond the city until they stopped at an enormous crater which was decorated with a few small fires and some debris of destroyed trees. Just before the crate was a sign which read "Danger Minefield".

"Well it looks like a lot of them have already been set off, I guess, by wandering animals." Xephos said, following Old_Peculier and Skylord_Lysander around the crater. Once again, they were stopped, but this time the five of them were below Skylord_Jasper's balcony, and in the water was a Creeper.

"Good grief..." Old_Peculier said in a slight groan.

"Yeah," Skylord_Lysander said, sounding a bit embarrassed, "I had an accident here..." Annahvi turned to him questioningly but it didn't take long to register in her mind that he was suggesting their unfortunate encounter with Skylord_Jasper.

"If you find any of my stuff around here," Xephos added, "Let me know..."

They continued past Skylord_Jasper's house and a few more feet beyond until they stopped at a rather strange tower. Parts of the spire were completely covered in dirt, and other patches had been eroded away by time and weather. Some sections appeared to be constructed by cobblestone, but some were made of completely smooth stone. The heroes were rather surprised that the tower was still able to stand in such a ruined condition. There were a few torches littered around, and above the entrance was the sign "Ye Olde Watche Towere" Honeydew and Xephos couldn't help but laugh when they read.

"This is my father's old guard post." Old_Peculier said proudly.

"I shall stand guard." Skylord_Lysander said, "You do your searching."

"Ok," Old_Peculier instructed, "we should look around here for clues."

"You know," Annahvi began, with a slight chuckle, "I don't think we need someone to guard us."

"It never hurts to be cautious." Skylord_Lysander noted with a faint hint of smugness. She looked at him questioningly before shrugging and entering the tower with Xephos. Honeydew, had wandered off to the nearby wall which separated the city from the wilderness.

"Do we climb?" Xephos asked, "Sorry, what do we do here?"

"I assume the only way is up from here." Annahvi said, she quickly took Xephos' hand and the two of them wandered up the tower with Honeydew leading ahead of them.

"There is a work bench, and a big chest!" the dwarf declared as he inspected the top of the tower. But just as the elf and Space Man reached the end of the stairs, they could hear the all too familiar hissing sound of a Creeper.

_BOOM!_

"OH NO!" the dwarf screamed as he fell off the watch tower. There was a slight scream but it quickly died down, raising some suspicion from the other two heroes.

Xephos and Annahvi quickly looked over the edge of the tower where their friend had fallen, only to be surprised to see that he had landed on an overhang made of dirt.

"Are you alright?" Xephos asked as he and the elf peeped over the edge.

"Are you okay?!" Old_Peculier called out.

"Are you safe?!" Skylord_Lysander called out.

"What was that?"

"I'm okay..." the dwarf whimpered as he looked up at the Space Man, "Luckily there was this little outcrop here. I think I did _slightly_ wet myself..."

Annahvi and Xephos laughed as Honeydew managed to get himself back up to the top, but once he did, Old_Peculier called out once again.

"I think we should check the basement." he suggested, "But it is buried."

Xephos quickly checked the chest for any supplies, but unfortunately there was just a few stone swords - much weaker than his iron one - and a few arrows. However, he did manage to find a few torches which he quickly placed in his inventory.

Once he and Annahvi reached the base of the tower, they saw that Old_Peculier held in his hand a spade.

"I have spades," he said, handing Honeydew and Skylord_Lysander each a spade. After Annahvi and Xephos had retrieved their spades, they began to dig.

As the heroes were busy digging through the Earth in hopes of finding some clues, Skylord_Lysander looked up to see that Honeydew had already made a very impressive hole in the ground. It was as if digging was his second nature.

"It is true," he chuckled, making Annahvi look up, "none can wield a pick like a dwarf." She nodded her head in agreement as they continued to toiled in the dirt.

The five of them kept working under the hot sun, Xephos turned to Honeydew, who was already several feet in the ground.

"What are we even looking for?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. An entrance to a basement."

"Is it gonna be just down and down and down...?"

"Let us search a wider area.", Old_Peculier suggested, as he overheard the Space Man and dwarf's conversation.

"Simon," Xephos continued, "I feel like we need a song to sing whilst digging. Do you have any ideas?"

"Possibly," he answered, "It needs to be something funny and lighthearted."

The dwarf scratched his bear as he pondered before his face lightened up in inspiration. Honeydew took a deep breath and belted out something which did not entirely sound like a song, so to speak, but more like a chant or cheer.

"I'M A DWARF AND I'M DIGGING A HOLE! DIGGY DIGGY HOLE! DIGGY DIGGY..."

But before he could sing anymore Xephos, Annahvi and himself burst out into laughter.

"Wow..." the Space Man chuckled, "Amazing."

Annahvi couldn't help but giggle in agreement as she and him were excavating more of the land. But as Xephos was digging underneath a tree, he heard his shovel hit something hard with a rather loud _THUNK!_ The elf turned to him anxiously and continued to dig until they completely uncovered a small chest which was underneath the trunk of the tree.

"Look!" Xephos called out, "We found a chest!"

"So what's in there?" Honeydew asked as he began to chop down the three.

They opened the chest and was surprised to see that it was relatively empty except for a single piece of paper.

"There's of piece of paper!" Xephos said, "Old_Peculier, can you read it?"

The Inn keeper joined the other heroes and examined the piece of paper. As he read the faded words on the paper, his expression changed. His brow furrowed in a look that was both serious and concerned.

"It is a note from my father." he explained, "He talks of preparing an expedition underground...To close a hellgate."

"Goodness!"

"He mentions the mineshaft in town," Old_Peculier continued, "That is where he went! We must follow!"

"Okay!" Xephos cheered.


	11. Chapter 9

So, we're headed to that old mine near the tennis court." Annahvi restated as she pulled Honeydew out of the enormous hole which he had dug, "That doesn't sound too bad."

"Follow you!" the dwarf cheered, "You'll lead the way!"

Xephos chuckled before looking up into the sky to see the sun setting in the distance, and the sky turning an erie colored blue. "It's getting dark as well. Okay, let's head back to town, I guess?"

Honeydew and Old_Peculier nodded in agreement while Annahvi simply smiled and they began to head for the city gates. But as they did, Skylord_Lysander spoke out. "If it's alright with you guys," he said in a voice mixed with discomfort and reluctance, "I'm going to give this one a miss..."

"Lysander!" Honeydew sighed, "What the hell, man!?"

"I'm a master of the sky" he explained, "the bowels of the earth are scary for me."

The dwarf let out another sigh. "Great," he muttered sarcastically, "What a wuss!" Skylord_Lysander winced at the remark, even though it was not meant to be heard. Annahvi looked to Honeydew with a bit of a stern glare, but then turned to Skylord_Lysander.

"Hey, don't worry about him." she chuckled reassuringly, "Everyone had some form of fear. Honeydew is afraid of spiders, but he doesn't like to admit it. And if it's any consolation, I'm claustrophobic."

He looked to her, his shoulders and face relaxing with ease, but then his expression turned to confusion. "But then why are going underground? You're afraid of tight spaces, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah..." she admitted with a nervous chuckle, "But you have to be brave for the one's that matter the most. And besides, _someone_ had to make sure that Honeydew doesn't get himself killed." The Skylord_Chuckled to her answer, until realization struck them both.

"Where's Honeydew?!" they said simultaneously.

"I'm almost in!" the dwarf cried out. The two heroes caught up with their friends, only to see Honeydew breaking through the city wall, and right into the tennis court.

"That's one way in I guess." Old_Peculier commented, but Skylord_Lysander was less that happy to see the wall damaged.

"What are you doing?!" Skylord_Lysander yelled as the dwarf slipped through the hole he had made, "You'll leave us open to Creepers! Close it!"

"We'll repair it!" Xephos said as Annahvi was the last to enter the city, "Don't worry!" The Space man and dwarf quickly sealed up the hole with new wooden planks and even replaced the stone slab which they had removed.

"Good as new!" Honeydew said happily, but the Skylord still looked at him with a frown of irritation. But before any more trouble could ensue, they heard a very familiar voice.

"Ah! Fantastic!" Father_Braeburn called out, "The church looks better than ever!"

Curiously, Xephos headed to the church to see what renovations the Father had made. Perhaps a new sign, or another painting; he didn't expect anything too subtle. However, he _certainly_ didn't expect to see a giant mosaic of a golden record carved into the church's wall.

"Oh wow!" he called out in awe, "Check it out!" While his friends joined him to take not of the new church, Father_Braeburn turned to him and chuckled, "I am very proud!" he said, "Thank you heroes!"

"This looks incredible!" Annahvi said with a laugh. Even Skylord_Lysander had to whistle at the splendor.

"Wonderful!" Xephos laughed as he saw the stain glass had changed to a record as well.

"You are welcome any time! I just need some new clothes." Father_Braeburn said as everyone rejoined outside the church - except for Honeydew, whom had gone off to kill a cow, "Something for another day. One task at a time!"

And with that, Xephos, Honeydew and Old_Peculier left for the mineshaft, leaving Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander.

"I shall go and try to patch things up with Jasper." he said. Annahvi nodded in agreement, "Tell him that I'm sorry as well," he smiled with a nod and with that, the two of them went their separate ways. Annahvi was able to find her friends just as they reached the mineshaft. Once they reached the sealed entrance, they re-read the signs.

'KEEP OUT'  
>'DANGER'<br>'MINE CLOSED'  
>'KEEP OUT!'<p>

"We must venture down." Old_Peculier said, "I have to know my father's face.

"Okay..." Honeydew said uncertainly, "Are going down into a dangerous mineshaft with a hellgate, and there's clearly a sign that says not to enter."

Xephos looked back at Old_Peculier before he searched through his inventory before he pulled out an axe and began to chop down the wooden planks which sealed up the entrance to the mine.

"Come to think of it," Old_Peculier continued, "this mine closed around the time my father went missing."

"I've got a feeling that it's not a coincidence." Annahvi said as Xephos and Honeydew uncovered the last of the stairs.

"Oh christ," Honeydew swore, "It's very dark down there!"

"Do you have torches?" Xephos asked. In response, they began to search through their inventory and managed to pull out a few handfuls of torches and began to lay them down, but even through they were able to provide a source of light, it still felt as though the mineshaft would never end; as it if descended into the very source of darkness. The mineshaft was actually rather spacious; just a large winding staircase, but that only added to the interminable shadow.

"Oh God..." Xephos ground as they began to hear the familiar sounds of groaning, hissing, and clicking of monsters, "I can hear noises..."

And it wasn't long before they managed to catch a glimpse of a Creeper lurking in the gloom.

"Monsters!" Old_Peculier warned. Thankfully, the heroes were prepared and Annahvi was quick to draw back an arrow and pierce through the monster's eye and into his skull.

"Nice shot."

The elf nodded with an earnest expression as they continued down the rotating staircase. They only had to fend off one last Creeper before they came to a stop at a large wall of wooden planks. It appeared to seal off the remaining stairs of the mineshaft, and on the front was yet another sign.

"What does this sign say?" Honeydew read, "'Mine Abandoned Keep Out' Oh...great..."

Xephos only inspected the warning before he once again chopped down the wooden boards.

"Well are we going down again?" he asked as he hacked through the planks, "Past through these wood?"

"I guess so..." Honeydew shrugged, but as they began to uncover the stairs, they could hear the infamous sound of spider's screeching.

"There are giant spiders down there." Old_Peculier said as he charged down the stairs, "DIE!" he called out as the other three heroes killed off the remaining fiends and were successful in stopping the monster spawner from creating any more spiders.

Once all of the excitement died down, the heroes realized that the walls of the mineshaft showed hints of gold, red stone, and iron.

"Oh God," Xephos said as he examined the red stone, "There's gold and shit down here, pal."

"Wow..." Annahvi said as she tapped the gold jutted out of the walls. As she and Honeydew were busy looking at the materials in the mine, Xephos' attention what drawn to yet another set of wooden planks.

"What does it say?" He placed a torch down and was able to make out the faded words of a warning, "'Diamond Shaft CLOSED DO NOT ENTER' Hm...I guess where we're going?" he chuckled sarcastically. Annahvi and Honeydew poked their heads from a large tunnel that they had made and quickly stuffed away the golden ores they had mined out.

"There _was_ gold," he explained, "I _may_ have let my dwarf-ily instincts take over..."

Xephos let out a mix between a scoff and a laugh as he chopped through the wooden planks, and he broke through the remaining wood with a loud _CRACK_! On the other side, was a small mine shaft, only big enough for a single line of people to walk through. It was rather short as well, barely enough for an average person to walk through, and appeared to go on for a rather long time.

"Oh great," Xephos said sarcastically, "It's a long dark tunnel. I hate tunnels."

At those words, Annahvi could feel her stomach begin to tighten into a knot. Why did it _have_ to be a mine shaft, she thought to herself, completely pitch black, with no sign to light at the end...

Xephos began to place down a few torches and motioned for his friends to follow, but as Honeydew and Old_Peculier began to travel down the stone mine, he saw Annahvi, her face now uncertain and her skin slightly drained of color.

"Annahvi..." he said comfortingly, "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

She gazed down the mine shaft as if staring down the barrels of a gun before she shook her head and swallowed. "N-No..." she said nervously, "I've got to get this over with..." But despite what the elf was saying, it was obvious that she was absolutely terrified. Xephos looked at her, and then at his friends who were beginning to go on without them.

"Here," he said, extending his hand, "take my hand. At least that way I'll be there if you get scared."

There was a silent pause before Annahvi looked at his hand, and then back into the tunnel. "You don't have to be scared." he said, "No one's going to hurt you."

Reluctantly, Annahvi took his hand and he lead them through the tunnel. The corridor continued for what felt like an eternity, and she began to wonder how much longer they would have to go. She could feel the walls crushing her, and it was getting harder to breath. But Xephos just squeezed her hand reassuringly and pulled her back down to reality. It was only a few more feet when they reached a staircase which went even deeper into the earth, showing signs of magma along with bedrock. Honeydew was the first to go down the stairs, followed by Xephos, then Annahvi, and finally Old_Peculier

"Be very careful!" Xephos warned, "That is lava and, I think, bedrock. Do you want to fill that in? Do you want to fill that lava in if you can?" The dwarf was able to smother the small pools of lava with large amounts of dirt and continued to press on.

It wasn't long before they found the hellgate, or rather, what remained of it.

"Here it is!" Old_Peculier said, "Looks like my father managed to destroy it just in time."

The hellgate was now just a few pieces of obsidian which stood atop a stone altar. Fire blossomed like roses, sand littered the floor, and a few unlit crates of TNT were surrounding the portal remains.

"Oh my God!" Xephos said as he examined the altar, "Is that what's left of a portal? There's TNT, there's sand, there's fire everywhere..."

They began to explore the ruins, trying to piece together all of the clues. Why was there sand? Why did the portal have to be destroyed? As Xephos watched Honeydew roam around the room, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. There, on the wall, were dozens of signs and torches.

"Oh my God..." he said, a look of pure shock on his face. The others quickly joined him by the signs, and were equally surprised to see what was written.

"Father..." Old_Peculier gasped.

_'Son, if you are reading than I am dead. I have walked through the portal to seal it shut. Know that I died to protect this land from a terrible evil. In the Nether is a spirit who would destroy the world. It must NOT be allowed into Minecraftia at any cost! If somehow it gets loose once again, you must vanquish it. My armor and blade are here. It falls to you and those that stand with you to save this world_

_- '_

On the side of the wall was a single chest, and one last sign.

_'Fight well, my son, and know that I love you.'_

And inside that chest was a glorious iron sword and a set of armor. Suddenly everyone understood. This was Old_Peculier's destiny. He took the sword in his hand, and placed the iron helm on his head.


	12. Chapter 10

As the three heroes tried to recollect their thoughts on the gravity of the current situation, they turned to Old_Peculier, who was no long there. In his stead was a man with redeemed youth and strength. He wore his father's armor and carried a sword with a fine blade. Above his head was the title 'Knight_Peculier'.

"My Father's diary is filled with grave information." he said to the three of them, "It is as I feared. The evil of the past has returned. We cannot waste any time! We must hurry to Verigan's hold!"

And with those words, Knight_Peculier ran out of the room, leaving the heroes slightly clueless.

"V-Verigan?" Honeydew said with a scratch of his beard.

"_Where_ are we going?" Xephos called out as he tried to follow behind the Knight.

"I will explain later, heroes. Follow me!"

They decided not to ask any more questions, but as the Space man began to lay down torches, everyone came to a quick realization. The corridor they were going through was the only way between the mine shaft and the previous room with the remains of the destroyed hellgate.

"Where are all the torches gone?" Knight_Peculier asked, looking around. No one knew the answer to his question, and they dreaded what it could possibly mean.

None the less, they continued through the mine shaft, placing down torches to illuminate the darkness, until Xephos quickly retreated when he saw the several beady eyes of a horrible eight-legged creature; eyes that were as red a fresh blood.

"Foul beasts!" Knight_Peculier said as he quickly slew the monster, but once it had died, another spider took its place. They looked to see that it was the monster spawner which they had surrounded with torches. But now that the torches were gone, the monsters were free to roam.

"We should've killed this thing..." Xephos said as Honeydew quickly buried the spawner in dirt.

"I don't think that works." he added, "That doesn't actually work."

"No," Honeydew disagreed, "that works. You completely encase it and nothing can spawn."

Ironically, just as the dwarf said so, an enormous spider attacked him.

"Well," Xephos said as he slashed at the spider, "Works _really_ well!"

"Fuck!" the dwarf cursed as he uncovered the spawner and placed down a torch, "Fuck! It doesn't work, Lewis! It doesn't work!"

Despite the urgency of leaving the mine shaft, Xephos, Honeydew, and Annahvi couldn't help but laugh as he panicked to place a torch down.

"My inventory is an absolute mangled mess of crap." the Space man said as he threw away a few blocks of wool, a raw pork chop, some dye, and several blocks of dirt.

"We must make haste!" Knight_Peculier urged, but it wasn't long until they had finished.

"Let's go!" Xephos said as he began to climb up the stairs leading to surface of the Earth.

"So how come we're suddenly in such a rush?" Honeydew asked as he lead in front of them, "Cause, like, _years_ have passed since Old_Peculier's dad sorted out stuff. So now why..." But as he reached the very top of the stairs, he didn't say anything else. All he could muster was, "Oh..."

Annahvi looked at Honeydew in confusion as he was at a sudden loss of words - which was quite unlike the dwarf. She turned to Xephos who was just as he had reached the stairs, he let out a confused and shocked sound which she couldn't exactly find the proper words for.

"Xephos?" she began, as she reached the last few stairs, "What's going on?"

However, no one had to answer for her.

All she could see were horrid white and orange flowers, as they fluttered and swayed in the faint breeze which passed by. Everywhere she looked there were these flowers, consuming everything in sight. A horrible flower which could take away everything in the blink of an eye. The same flowers she saw when they reached the Yogcave, and Knight_Peculier's family home. A foul stench of smoke wafted in the air, and combined with the intense heat, Annahvi was beginning to find it hard to breath. This couldn't be happening again, she thought; and yet everywhere there was fire, turning homes and trees and anything else they could find into a cold grey powder.

"In Notches name!" Knight_Peculier screamed, "The town had been attacked! Heroes! Follow me!"

Xephos was quick to break through the fence which surrounded the mine shaft entrance, but after he was done, he turned to see Annahvi, on her knees, starring off into the sky, lost in thought.

"Annahvi," he said, rushing to her side, "We must hurry! Mistral City needs us!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and began to viciously shake her back and forth until she finally shook her head and starred back at Xephos.

"Everything is going to be fine," he reassured, "Bu we have to help anyone that needs us right now!"

"Y-You're right," she muttered, getting up from her knees, "I-I'm so sorry, I just..."

"It's alright," he interrupted, taking her hand, "It's going to be alright..."

They hurried out of the mineshaft entrance, past the remains of the Message Board, and through the cemetery until they reached Honeydew and Knight_Peculier whom were standing in front of the burning Church of the Holy Record.

"Lewis, Annahvi!" the dwarf called out, "Here! Here! Look at this!"

The two of them looked to see where the other two were facing, and were surprised to see a few signs planted in front of the church.

_'Anyone! Help! The Holy Record is trapped in the church! I have fled to Icaria! Please bring it to me!_

_ -F. Braeb._

_P.S. You will be rewarded'_

"It looks like most of the townsfolk escaped!" Knight_Peculier suggested, after reading the signs, "But where is Lysander?"

Annahvi froze.

"L-Lysander..." she said, in a voice so soft that no one could hear her.

Where _was_ Lysander? Had he managed to escape from the city before the damage was done? Was he able to save the other citizens? Or had a worser fate befallen him? Was he dead or alive, and if he was alive, was he injured? And if he was injured, how _badly_? Or maybe he was still in the city somewhere...

Annahvi was so caught up in her questions, she didn't even notice Honeydew and Xephos charge into the burning church to save the Holy Record. Then her mind began to wander to the possibility of a horrible vision. A burnt and charred body, barely recognizable on the floor. A face of absolute terror, frozen in time, and surrounded by blood.

Her head began to spin and she had to grip onto one of the signs, posted into the ground, for support. Annahvi's heart began beating faster and faster until she was certain it would burst.

"I have to go find him." she said, finally.

"What?!" Knight_Peculier said, "Annahvi, we have to stay together! I understand that you're worried about him but-"

"Don't you get it!" she interrupted, "Lysander could be out there _dying_ and we're waiting on Xephos and Honeydew to get a piece of vinyl plastic!"

"But, Annahvi-" he tried again, but she wouldn't listen.

"I'm going off to find Lysander." she said firmly.

She headed to Skylord_Jasper's house first; Skylord_Lysander had said that he was going to try and apologize, so it appeared to be the most ethical place to look first. But when she got there, to her horror, the entire apartment was up in flames.

"Lysander!" she called out, "Can you hear me?!"

There was no response other than the roaring of the fires. She kicked down the burning door and began searching the entire building. Her eyes began to water from the intense heat and smoke, yet she continued to search for Skylord_Lysander.

"Lysander!" she said between coughs, "Answer if you can hear me!"

But yet again there was no answer. By that point, everything was ablaze; beyond salvageable with just a bucket of water. Annahvi turned to go back down the stairs, but the entire first floor had been engulfed by the fires, and it would've been suicide to even try. The only option was to climb upward, but as Annahvi reached the penthouse, everything was shrouded in smoke and smog, and it was becoming a struggle for fresh oxygen.

She quickly climbed up onto the bookshelves and began to punch against the glass dome; at this point, she was beginning to choke and her legs felt weak. In one last ditch attempt, Annahvi pulled out an stone sword, which she rarely used, and smashed the hilt against glass. There was a shattering sound and Annahvi began to climb out of the enormous hole, careful to avoid the sharp edges of the broken glass. She jumped onto a nearby roof and then back onto the cobblestone ground with a slight _thud_!

Annahvi groaned as she propped herself agains the walls before continuing the search for Skylord_Lysander, along with anyone else who was still within the city walls. Knight_Peculier said that many people had succeeded in fleeing the city, but what about those who still remained; no doubt they would require as much assistance as possible.

She quickly passed Granny_Bacon's shop, which now was completely destroyed except for the stone counters and a few tables, and it wasn't long before she reached the Elysium, or rather, what was left of it. The walls of the second floor had gone up in smoke, and most of the first floor was decorated with fire. Annahvi, instantly rushed into the building and headed up to the remains of the bedroom, but no one was there.

"Lysander!" she called out, but no one responded.

Annahvi stood there, for a moment, looking around frantically until she closed her eyes and tried to look away from the burning monstrosity.

Why was all of this happening? So much fire, so much destruction, so many lives in ruin. How many more people would have to suffer Israphel's wrath? How many had he destroyed before? What would happen if they failed to stop Israphel? _Could_ they even stop him? Annahvi sat there, on the cobblestone floor, watching with tears the city burned.

"Annahvi!"

She instantly turned around when she heard someone call out her name. She looked down from where she was sitting and saw Xephos, Honeydew, and Knight_Peculier entering the remains of the Elysium.

"Annahvi!" Xephos yelled. He rushed into the burning building and up the flight of stairs until he ran towards the elf and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Xephos...?" she whispered, in a voice so soft, he could barely hear her.

"God, Annahvi," he sighed, "What were you thinking? You had me worried there for a moment."

"I'm sorry," she looked down as if she was a child caught in an act of mischief, "I didn't mean to scare you guys."

"It's alright, now." Xephos said, looking down at her with an eased smile, "I'm just glad you aren't harmed."

"Lysander?" Knight_Peculier called out as he reached the top of the stairs. The two of them looked to the Knight and suddenly Annahvi's expression turned solemn once again.

"I couldn't find him..." she said, "I can only hope that he's safe."

"Don't worry," Xephos said as he lead her downstairs, "We'll find him."

She turned to him with a look of uncertainty before nodding and smiling weakly. He smiled back at her, but his expression changed when he looked over her shoulder and saw something extremely odd. Most of the rug in Skylord_Lysander's lounge had been ruined by the fire, and now he could see that underneath it was a small set of stairs.

"Xephos, what's wrong?" Annahvi asked, turning to see what he was looking at. She too noticed the set of stairs, and the two of them began to remove the remaining rug.

"Simon," Xephos called out, "We're downstairs, in Lysander's...under his rug - his lounge, which is on fire, there is a hole in the ground."

As Honeydew and Knight_Peculier reached the bottom of the stairs, the elf and Space man were able to dispose of the remaining rug, revealing a rather ominous pit. Annahvi looked down and could faintly see Netherrack.

"Lysander," she called out, "Are you down there?"

There was no response, but Annahvi was determined to find some answers to the several questions that were in her mind. Unfortunately, she uncovered an answer that she had never wanted to see.

The material that she saw _was_ indeed Netherrack; it lead to an extremely small chamber, just big enough to fit four people comfortably. And in the center of the room, surrounded by torches was a chest and right above was a sign which read.

_Dark Master, I worship your unholy powers_

_-Lysander_

This had to be some mistake!

"Lysander..." Annahvi breathed as she stood in place, almost falling onto the floor, "This can't be real..." But as Knight_Peculier finished reading the sign, she could feel her heart begin to pound rapidly.

"No..." Knight_Peculier sighed, "How could you have burned fair Mistral?"

"Knight_Peculier," Annahvi said, a fear of doubt wavering in her voice, "You can't honestly think that Lysander did this, do you?"

"The truth is irrefutable." he said, gazing at her in grief.

"How do we know for sure?" she said nervously, "This could all just be some rouge! I don't believe that Lysander is evil!"

"Annahvi," he said, but she shook her head in denial.

"This is just a trick..." she said, more to herself than to her friends, "Lysander can't be..."

But as she was muttering to herself, a shrill voice cut through the air and silenced her. "Help! Unhand me you fiend!"

"Granny!" Knight_Peculier said as he left the room, "This way!"

"I'm coming, my love!" Honeydew yelled as he charged behind the Knight. Xephos and Annahvi were the only ones left in the room, accompanied by a tense silence that lingered in the air. He looked at her nervously before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You think so too, don't you?" she said softly. Xephos almost flinched back in shock when she spoke. Annahvi had never before sounded so sad and disappointed. "I know that it points to Lysander, but I just don't want to believe it..."

Xephos sighed and faced her with a reassuring look. "Don't worry," he said, taking her hand in his, "We're going to find out what's going on and stop Israphel for good. I promise." She looked at him in reluctance but finally smiled weakly and nodded her head.

They quickly rejoined Knight_Peculier and Honeydew, who were standing in front of the fallen guard tower which once proudly floated in the air.

"WHERE ARE YOU, MY LOVE?!" Honeydew called out.

"I think I heard her voice come from the old castle." Knight_Peculier said, "We must break through this watch tower."

However, neither Honeydew nor Xephos heard his suggestion, as the two of them were trying to crawl out of a small cavern which they had uncovered.

"So she's not down here," Honeydew said, "But because we know that there are these kind of places underground here that the city was built on top of, we know that we can just dig down in certain places and we might be able to find her."

"Um Simon..." Annahvi said, pointing to the enormous guard tower.

"Oh..." the dwarf said as he joined Knight_Peculier in the watch tower.

"Honeydew," he instructed, "use your dwarven might to break through this wall!"

And with a diamond pickaxe in his hands, Honeydew managed to break through the stone walls of the guard tower, creating an opening large enough for Knight_Peculier to slip through. Unfortunately, as he stood on the other side of the tower, Honeydew accidentally struck him with the pick making him flinch and fall into the water below.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Honeydew apologized, "I'm sorry, Knight_Peculier!"

"I think he's okay." Xephos said as he and Annahvi quickly passed through the wall.

"Heroes," the Knight said, "time is of the essence! My father's diary tells us of a nightmare cult: The Cult of Israphel."

"Well that's just fantastic news..." Honeydew muttered sarcastically.

"It was based in this abandoned castle." he continued, "My father destroyed a portal there, but they must have rebuilt it! Go! Save Granny and destroy the portal!" and with that, Knight_Peculier ran off into the night, "There is no time to lose!"

"Where are you going?" Xephos asked as the three of them chased after him.

"Meet me a Verigan's Hold!" he explained, "Take the back road out of town! And good luck, heroes!"

"Good luck, friend!" Honeydew called out.

With that, Knight_Peculier ran up a flight of stairs which lead to an ominous skull in the.

"Where's he going?" Xephos asked as the Knight disappeared into the skulls mouth and out of sight. He looked down at a nearby sign which read.

-Picture Point-

Mincraftia

Tourist Board

"That's lovely." Honeydew laughed.

"It's lovely, the city is on fire behind us and there's an enormous horrible skull." Xephos laughed before Annahvi looked back to the skull.

"I think he's got things to do." he suggested, "I think we're supposed to rescue Granny, though. So let's go into the castle." Annahvi had one last glance back at the skull before nodding her head and walking towards the abandoned castle.


	13. Chapter 11

"Okay," Honeydew said as they examined the outside of the castle, "So we've got to find a way into the place to rescue Granny_Bacon from the Cult of Israphel that's inside the castle."

Xephos watched as his two friends climbed onto the top of the castle to find some form of entrance via stairs or ladder, but their efforts were fruitless.

"Is there a way up?" he asked, "Is there a way at the top?" Sadly, they landed back onto the ground and Annahvi shook her head.

"I cant - I can't see one up there." the Dwarf grumbled. Xephos watched his friend turn to the entrance of the caste, before climbing up the castle to see for himself.

"I wish Old_Peculier was here to help us." Honeydew started.

"Knight_Peculier." Annahvi corrected as she walked around the perimeter of the structure.

"Right." he continued, "But we are now going out on our own. We are like little baby birds that have been, like, kicked out of the nest by their mother. And now, guys, now we have to learn how to fly."

As the Dwarf was busy with his analogy, Xephos was busy searching the roof, and was surprised to see a small shaft opening.

"Oh there's a ladder here!" he called out, but when he looked down it was noted that the shaft only went down a few feet before stopping with no sign of entrance into the castle. "No, it doesn't go anywhere."

"A FUCK IT!" Honeydew groaned as he rummaged through his inventory, "Let's just do this the Yogscast way!"

And with that, he pulled out a few crates full of TNT which he had stored away when they first crashed on the shores outside of the Yogcave.

"I was wondering what happened to those..." Annahvi said silently, before realizing that Honeydew was about to blow the iron door of the castle clean off their hinges.

"Honeydew!" she said, running the other direction, "Get that stuff away from me!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY"

Meanwhile, Xephos was beginning to climb out of the small shaft when he heard his friends yelling. "What?"

_BOOM!_

A loud explosion rattled the cobblestone structure to its core and Xephos let out a yell of surprise. None the less, he climbed back up the ladder and onto the roof where he could just see the dust beginning to settle. He laughed, "Nice."

"Oh are you _kidding_ me!" the Dwarf yelled in shock, "You've got to be kidding me."

As Xephos was climbing back down to the dirt, he could also hear Annahvi, "Oh the irony."

When he finally made it to the ground, he wasn't too surprised to see that a small portion of the land had been completely destroyed. An entire layer of dirt was completely missing as well as some chunks of cobblestone. The metal doors had been completely obliterated just as intended, but when Xephos looked down the stairs he saw that only a few feet away was an identical pair of doors, locked shut.

"There's another set of..."

"Yeah, another set of doors down there.," he finished for the Dwarf, "I hope you didn't use all the TNT up." He expected Honeydew to reply with a 'yes' or 'no'. Instead, he replied with, "There's a sheep in there, you guys. Do you think that's one of the Cultists of Israphel?"

"What?" Annahvi asked, completely bewildered. Xephos and she looked down the stairs for any sign of sheep ,but they didn't see anything. However, outside they noticed a small hole in the wall, no doubt a byproducts of Honeydew's little excursion, and inside was a white and wooly sheep. The three of them glanced at the sheep as it wandered around mindlessly, and they also noted a few trails of Redstone on the ground.

"OH MY GOD!" Honeydew screamed, "IT'S AN EVIL CULTISTS!"

Annahvi and Xephos laughed at their friend before he placed a torch down and then walked to the destroyed entrance.

"So how do we...oh." suddenly his eyes lit up in realization, "You know how we could get in? We could just, like, craft the thing to get in."

"A lever," Xephos answered, "Yeah, or a button. But I just think it's better if we just go with the-"

Honeydew placed a button onto the side of the wall and the door swung open.

"Oh." Xephos said, "Okay." Honeydew and Annahvi laughed as they entered the castle, despite the severity of the situation. "That's an easier way would could've done - could've done that."

However, the laughter died down when they stepped foot into the castle. There was only a small cobblestone path, and on each side of the path was lava.

"Be careful now," Honeydew instructed, obviously more used to lava from digging underground so often. "There are some leavers on either side - are those leavers?"

Xephos and Annahvi looked on the walls to the right and left of them, and just as Honeydew said, there were two levers - one on each side.

"I wonder if they do anything." Xephos suggested, "They might open the doors on the inside. I think that's probably what all that Redstone was for. Can you pull one? Can you reach?"

The Dwarf carefully stood on the edge of the cobblestone path, careful not to get too close to the lava, and managed to grasp the lever and flick it. They waited anxiously for something to happen, but then Annahvi turned around and pointed at doors, now both open.

"Oh." the Dwarf signed in relief, "I was just worried that everything would just blow up."

"This one doesn't work," Xephos said, referring to the lever closest to him, "I think you might have accidentally blown this one up with the TNT."

"Oh well," the Dwarf shrugged as he continued down the path.

"Shall we go onwards?"

"Yeah, we've got a bit more to worry about."

However, the Dwarf stopped talking when he and his friends were right in front of a long dark corridor. There was only a single torch hanging above them, and right next to it was a wooden sign

"Abandon Hope all ye Who Entere Here." Xephos read.

"Oh that's reassuring." the Dwarf grumbled sarcastically before heading into the darkness. Xephos pulled out a few torches from his inventory, but as he was about to set foot in the corridor, he stopped and turned to Annahvi.

"Are you going to be alright?" he looked at her nervously, but she just took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I'll be alright," she reassured, although sounding a bit reluctant, "We've got to do this."

He nodded in agreement and so the two of them entered the corridor and quickly rejoined their Dwarven friend. Compared to the mineshaft, the corridor was a bit wider, big enough for two people to walk side by side, but it traveled deep in to the Earth, winding clockwise like a corkscrew.

Honeydew groaned sarcastically as he placed down a torch every few feet. "I love going through these horrible dark tunnels in which you don't know what's ahead of you."

"Granny's there, though." Xephos said, faintly seeing the white tittle which read 'Granny_Bacon', "I can see Granny in the distance."

"I can hear...I think a spider." the Dwarf began, but before he could say anything else he quickly began to walk backwards, right into Annahvi and Xephos.

"Is there a spider 'round there?" the Space Man asked as he and Annahvi glanced down the unlit hallway.

"Yeah," he laughed.

"Along with a spawner." Annahvi added as they could see the small flames appear form the monster spawner as well as bright red eyes poking out of the darkness.

"Oh God." the Dwarf shuddered, but Xephos simply sliced at the spider with his iron sword.

"It's okay," he reassured mockingly, "It's just a spider." Just as he said this, another spider appeared from the monster spawner, but Annahvi was quick to draw back her bow and shot the foul creature with an arrow.

"I'm running low on arrows, just to let you know, guys." Annahvi said, as she tucked away her bow."

"I think I saw some stuff in that chest," Xephos said, "but I was a bit preoccupied."

"Destroy the spawner!" Honeydew yelled, "Quick!"

However, instead of taking out a pickaxe, Xephos simply placed down a few torches.

"Oh wait, no." he said, "you can just...yeah."

The Space Man smiled triumphantly as he continued down the dark tunnel.

"Easy peasy lemon-" he suddenly stopped and began running in the opposite direction, "AH Creeper! There's a Creeper down there, there's a Creeper down there!"

Upon hearing this, both Honeydew and Annahvi began to mimic Xephos and began to run up the stairs, still fixated on the green monster.

"Arrows! Arrows! Arrows!" he rushed, but as Annahvi rapidly began firing arrows, she reached into her inventory to see that there were none left.

"There's no more arrows left!" Annahvi panicked.

"This is _not_ a good timing!" Honeydew said as he continued up the stairs, "_Not_ good timing!"

"Oh no!" Xephos laughed before charging at the Creeper. He managed to graze the monster slightly with his iron sword, but it began to hiss eerily and began to expand until it finally burst, knocking the heroes back and destroyed a small portion of the corridor.

"It's alright," he sighed, replacing his iron sword with a diamond one.

"I'm a little worried we might not be able to get back up here," Honeydew said as he examined the damage. However, Xephos continued down the corridor, past the damaged stairs, and stopped short when he saw a skeleton in he distance.

"Okay," he said, "There's a skeleton down there, and we're nearly at Granny."

They could faintly hear Honeydew a behind them, as he said, "That's the last of my stone."

Annahvi glanced over his shoulder and could faintly see the leg bones before sighing in irritation. Xephos chuckled at his friend before continuing down the tunnel and rushed to the skeleton. He made quick work of the monster before it fell apart into bones and a few arrows - which Annahvi quickly picked up an placed in her inventory. They then noticed that corridor ended only a few feet from where they were standing and lead into a rather large room, which included a large portion of stairs on the opposite side of the stairs.

"Blimey!" Honeydew said.

Cautiously, Xephos continued on, close to the side of the wall. Unfortunately, a skeleton was still able to note his presence and began to attack, and as Xephos managed to fend of the monster, he saw another lurking in the darkness. Suddenly, skeletons began to surround him and Annahvi, forcing them to retreat.

"Oh my God," Xephos cried out, "There's like five." And to make matters worse, another green monsters appeared ran into a skeleton and began to hiss angrily.

"Oh God, there's a Creeper as well!"

The monster exploded, destroying all light from the torches, but after a few moments of silence, Xephos placed down another torch and saw that the tunnel was littered with bones and arrows.

"There's mostly dead," he said, "Let's go, go, go!"

Honeydew quickly ran down the tunnel, but stopped short when he saw two skeletons approaching them.

"Yeah? he replied sarcastically, "They don't look mostly dead to me!"

However, Xephos was able to cut down the two monsters and quickly placed another torch on the wall. He quickly entered the large room, only to see more and more enemies quickly surrounding them.

"Oh there's _loads_ in here, and Zombies too!" he said, quickly rejoining Honeydew, and Annahvi - whom was trying her best to shoot as many monsters as she was capable of.

"There's too many monsters in here, friend!"

"Look," Honeydew yelled, "Just stop whining and BLOODY KILL THEM! For Christ sake!"

Hearing the Dwarf's words, Annahvi nodded her head and grabbed Xephos' arm and quickly ran into the room. They were instantly bombarded with arrows, but continued to hack through the endless waves of enemies.

"Look how many there are!" Xephos said as he kill another skeleton, "There's like _four_ here!"

"Come on," Honeydew said as he rushed into the room, "We're all tooled up!"

"We need to light this place up." the Space Man suggested, quickly retreating with his friends.

"Make sure you eat something, man." Honeydew suggested, "Don't go down!"

They stayed there momentarily, trying to regain their strength before heading back into the fray. Honeydew remained at the entrance, trying to hold back as many enemies as he could whilst Annahvi and Xephos were busy laying down torches.

"This is tense!" Honeydew groaned as he slew a few more skeletal monsters.

"Granny's down here!" Xephos said, referring to the white title which lead to one of the prison cells.

"Why are there so many monsters?!" the dwarf groaned.

"Flippin' heck." Xephos said, trying his best not to swear, "I'm panicking here."

"At least they guys die quickly," Annahvi said, firing an arrow into a zombie's eye. Noting that their Dwarven friend was outnumbered by a swarm of monsters, she and Xephos quickly returned to their friend, finishing off the remaining zombies surrounding him. However, their victory was short lived when they spotted their umpteenth skeleton.

"Oh God there's more!" Honeydew said, exasperated as he once again headed back into the room.

"I can see why Old_Peculier gave us that flippin' armor." Xephos groaned as he headed towards the left side of the room. "There's a Creeper in one of the prison cells, maybe it's one of Mr. Astley relatives."

However, he stopped when he noted a spawner in the dark.

"Ah, there's a spawner here." he began to place down several torches until he was certain that no more creatures would spawn in the darkness.

"Okay," he sighed, "I've lit this one up. I don't have many torches. Do you have any torches."

"I've got fifteen." Honeydew said as he and Annahvi quickly scanned through their inventory.

"About nineteen." she informed as they headed to the right side of the room.

"Okay," Xephos instructed, "We've cleared this side out. There's a spawner down here, there's a spawner down here and are _loads _of skeletons. Can you light this spawner up, this side - this side?"

"Sure thing." Annahvi said, nodding her head.

"Take them out!" Honeydew repeated, as if he was a drill sergeant. Xephos was quick to fight agains the skeletons while Annahvi and Honeydew quickly placed down their torches until not a single corner of the room was left in darkness.

"Some of them aren't very responsive, are they?" Xephos noted, referring to a few skeletons whom were simply standing in the dark, "Oh, these are going down _easily_!" With those words, he quickly slaughtered the last of the skeletons. Once she was able to calm her breath, she saw that the only remains of the monsters were a few bones and several arrow littered on the floor.

"We totally destroyed these guys!" Xephos said proudly, making Annahvi roll her eyes in amusement, "We are so pro, compared to what we were like before. Even though I accidentally-"

However, the Space Man stopped short when the three of them heard an erie groaning. They all stopped talking and turned their heads to where there source of the groaning was coming from. It had originated in one of the prison cells, specifically, the one which held Granny_Bacon.

"Urrrgghh!"

"Oh my God," Xephos said, "It's Granny!"

"Granny!" Honeydew said happily as he ran to the cell door. But just as he was about to pull the lever which opened the door, Xephos spoke up once more. "Why is she making noises like that, though?" he instantly let his hand go form the lever and faced the Elf and Space Man.

"Open the door;" Xephos continued, "let her out."

"Should we?" Honeydew said nervously, "What if she's been afflicted by the taint? She's makin' weird noises; Lewis, I'm freaking out!"

But Xephos didn't heed the warning of his friend and grabbed the lever. He quickly flipped it and the iron door opened, but still everyone was nervous and the air was still with bone-chilling tension.

After a few moments of waiting, Granny_Bacon began to walk out of the cell, but there was clearly something wrong. Her back was horribly hunched over, she practically lurked when she walked, and she directly began walking towards Honeydew before turning to Xephos.

"I'm freakin' out as well!" Xephos said as he quickly ran away from her.

"Look at her!" Honeydew said nervously, "Look at her! What's going on?"

"I don't know!"

"See, I bloody told you! I _told_ you, 'What if there's something wrong with her?' Look at her! What's going on with her?!"

"I wish I could tell you." Annahvi gulped as they continued to back away from the crazed shop keeper.

"Oh God!" Honeydew repeated as he began to lay down blocks of dirt.

"Can we cage her or something?" Xephos suggested nervously.

As Granny_Bacon continued to stalk towards them, Honeydew quickly placed down the last few blocks of dirt until there was a wall which reached from one point to the other, and tall enough to prevent someone to jump over.

"There we go." Honeydew sighed, only to see her begin to tear apart the dirt wall.

"OH GOD! SHE'S BREAKING THROUGH!" Honeydew panicked.

"Oh God," Xephos said as he spied an open prison cell, "there was a Creeper in that door there. There was a Creeper in the - in the um...in the prison cell. I think you must've accidentally opened it when you backed into the lever."

Just as he said this, the three of them bumped into the wall behind them, adding more fear to the current scenario.

"Get in a cell! Get in a cell, quick!" Honeydew said as he quickly opened one of the empty prison cells and ran inside.

"No, we can't! We can't!" Xephos explained, "It locks from the outside!" Realizing this, Honeydew began to panic again."Oh God, she's coming for you!"

Granny_Bacon continued to lurch towards him, but instead of attacking the trapped dwarf, she closed the cell and began to skulk towards the Space Man and Elf.

"Oh God," Xephos squealed, "she's coming for me! Are just going to kite her around? Can we get her in a prison cell?"

"I'm locked! I'm locked in, guys!" Honeydew yelled.

"Hang on," Xephos said, "I'll get you out! She locked you in." With that, the Space Man and Elf quickly pulled the lever beside the cell and opened the door detaining the Dwarf.

"Maybe we should talk to her," he suggested as he stepped out of the cell.

"Oh maybe," Xephos agreed reluctantly.

Just as he said this, Granny_Bacon stopped her pursue after the heroes and simply stood still, groaning "Rrrghhhh..."

"Is everything okay?" Honeydew asked as she began to approach them once more. For a moment, it looked as though she was going to respond with proper words, and everyone wash hopeful that they could resolve the current situation. However, it was only a few seconds after when Granny_Bacon slapped the unsuspecting Dwarf with a piece of pork chop in her hand.

"She's hitting me!" he said, surprised and appalled, "She's _hittin'_ me! Is that bacon? She's hitting me with bacon!"

"I think we might just have to fight back." Xephos said reluctantly, "Just see if you can knock her out of her trance."

"Oh God! Forgive me for doing this."

However, Honeydew never had to strike down the old lady. Just as she was about to attack him once again with her accursed pork chop, she turned and began to walk towards Xephos. She began to stalk towards him, causing him to back away. Suddenly, Annahvi reluctantly wielded her stone sword and struck Granny_Bacon to the ground with the handle.

At first, the shop keeper's skin wobbled with the physical consistency of gelatin from the very impact of the sword's hilt. She looked at Xephos, dazed, and it was then that the heroes saw a fait tearing in her skin. Without any warning, her first layer of skin began to fall off like a prosthetic mask, revealing a sickly green hue underneath, as well as a mouth covered in blood.

They screamed in horror.

"That is _not_ good!" Xephos said as he ran away from the undead shop keeper. "That is very bad news, indeed!"

The three of them quickly filed back through the dirt wall that Honeydew had built and were quick to fill in the opening with wood and dirt.

"Do you reckon she's gonna turn back?" Xephos asked, but before anyone could answer, Granny_Bacon once again broke through the wall and began to attack Honeydew.

"Oh," the Space Man said, "She's mad now."

"NO!" Honeydew screamed, "SHE'S GONE MAD! SHE'S GONE MAD! SHE'S GONNA KILL ME! OH GOD, KILL HER! KILL HER!"

This time, it was Xephos to manage to hack at her, and then so did Honeydew. By that point, all of Granny_Bacon's skin had been revealed to be the same green color, and now she was also running at them.

"Oh," Xephos alerted, "There's a re-spawned as well."

"I've got it!" Annahvi called out, quickly drawing back an arrow. She quickly took care of he situation and reduce the skeleton to a pile of bones, but Xephos barely had a moment to blink before he turned around to see Granny_Bacon charging at him, growling and snarling.

"Die!" he said in a mix between a scream and whimper. With a single thrust of his diamond sword, Granny_Bacon staggered for a moment before falling down dead, all of her possessions scattering on the floor.

"Oh God!" Honeydew wailed before spying a piece of pork on the nearby floor, "Ooh, bacon!"

"Lots of bacon, and a fish - a cooked fish." Xephos said as they examined the now quite room. "Oh my God, that was epic."

"Oh God, what have we done?" Honeydew sighed

"I'm not sure what we've done, but I feel guilty for doing in."

"We murdered her in cold blood."

"I don't know, man." Xephos said, "She was a zombies so we did have to kill her. But she was her lover. I'm sorry, friend."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Annahvi interrupted.

"Oh well," Honeydew shrugged, "Life goes on."

"She was his _what_!?" she continued, but Xephos just chuckled. "I'll explain some other time..."

"Oh my God," Honeydew chuckled as he examined the scattered food and other objects, "That was horrifying."

"That was epic." but then Xephos began to wander around the room in confusion. "Where did we even...Do you remember where we _came_ from to go down here? I completely lost track of what we're doing."

"Well we came here to save Granny_Bacon," Honeydew began, "And instead we killed her so...what we do next is anyone's guess."

As they began to search around the room, and returned to the stairs on the wall across from the tunnel.

"There...something up here, I think." Honeydew said, rather curiously. Apparently, the stairs lead to a small tunnel leading to a set of stairs, winding into the darkness.

"Do you want to go ahead?" Honeydew asked happily, "You go first."

"Well I don't have any torches left." Xephos shrugged; Annahvi nodded her head in agreement as she looked up the stairs.

"Oh hang on!" Honeydew said as be began to climb down the stairs, "I thought I saw some coal, actually. Back in the big room."

"Oh yeah?" Xephos asked as he and Annahvi followed the Dwarf down to the large room, but only a few moments after did he turned around and begin to walk hastily in the opposite direction.

"Okay never mind!" he said urgently, "Never mind! Let's go...No no no no! Keep going! Keep going this way - this way!"

"What's down there?" Xephos asked suspiciously.

"Let's just go up here..." Honeydew said as they reached the stairs, "There may have been two Creepers down there."

"We don't have torches!" Annahvi reminded him. So as an immediate result, Honeydew was forced to lead the trio through the stairs and and a small tunnel until another room.

It wasn't as large as the pervious room, probably about one-third of the room they were perviously in, but near the end of the room, in the right-hand corner was a strange waterfall fenced in along with a sign.

"'Danger!'" Xephos read, "'DEEP MINE EXCAVATION Long Drops!'" He and Annahvi looked down the waterfall until it disappeared.

"There's another door here," Honeydew mumbled as he starred at the door on the opposite side of the room.

"Okay." Xephos said. He braced himself for the worst to come as Honeydew opened the door and the three of them entered the room. The worst was far more than he could have thought.

The room itself was rather quaint, with a few counters and a furnace. However, there was someone else in the room with them.

A familiar man with white hair and a black suit. Even though the heroes could easily recognize who the man was, he had changed in appearance since their pervious encounter. His skin now retains a slight tint of green, and his eyes had become beady and black. Blood stained his shirt, his suit, and his mouth, but he still held an all too familiar golden sword.

Upon seeing Reverend_John, they instantly began to backtrack until they were far away from the door and the Reverend. However, Annahvi remained fixated on the golden sword in the Reverend's hands, and suddenly the world around her began to change as her mind traveled back to that fateful day in Terrorvale.

_"My lord told me I would not see you again!" the Reverend said in an eire, deep voice. It instantly sent a cold shiver down their spines as they looked at him in confusion, noticing the slightest change in behavior._

_"Reverend_J-"_

_"Taste my holy blade!"_

_Suddenly, Reverend_John pulled out a golden sword hidden within his suit and swung wildly at Annahvi. She tried her best to doge the oncoming attack, but the sudden ambush caught her off guard and he was able to strike her down. His blade was able to sink into her shoulder before traveling down her side and trailing off towards her stomach. In the moment of panic Annahvi stumbled onto the hard stone floor and began to crawl away until her back was pressed against one of the wooden coffins. Annahvi stared in horror as the Reverend prepared to strike again, and this time there was no way for her to avoid his attack. She closed her eyes, turned her face away from Reverend_John and her friends, and prepared for the final blow to be delivered._

_There was a faint gurgling sound, and this silence._

_Annahvi looked up in surprise to see a blooded sword sprouting from the man's chest, crimson life beginning to trail from his mouth. Xephos removed his sword from the body and it fell limply to the floor, a pool of blood beginning to form around it. It only laid there for a moment before disappearing along with the blood on the floor and on Xephos' blade._

As memories continued to course through her mind, the Reverend turned to Annahvi, his eyes shimmering sinisterly. Their eyes looked together for a moment, and the tension in the air became so thick, one could have almost cut through it with a sword. However, the Elf was quick to see Xephos and Honeydew standing behind her, and she began to back away, closing the door, and rejoining her friends.

"He doesn't look as well as the last time we saw him." the Space Man said as they reproached the door, "Does he?"

"No," Honeydew answered, "Well we did kill him."

By that point, Reverend_John had made his way to the door frame and saw staring at Xephos. "The Master promises eternity! You still live?" The three of them looked at each other nervously before the Reverend charged after Xephos.

"Embrace the dark!" he screamed this before running back into the pervious room and slamming the door behind him. His attack was not as fatal as they had feared, so they quickly brushed it aside and began to pursue after the corrupted clergyman. He was standing at the base of stairs when Xephos saw him, and began to attack. Reverend_John was able to avoid most of his attacks, but then Honeydew and Annahvi burst into the room as well, and the elf fired an arrow. He quickly fled up the stairs and through the tunnel which it lead to, with the three heroes in hot pursuit. Seeing as Honeydew was the only one of them who had torches, he had to lead them through the dark.

As Honeydew paused to rummage through his inventory for more torches, Xephos turned to Annahvi who was clearly lost in thought. He looked at her nervously before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked. She turned to him slowly, and instead of her usual optimism and happiness, she paused instead and turned to the ground.

"I'll live..." she chuckled, trying to hide her fear. Sensing her unease, Xephos took her hand and looked at her protectively, their eyes locking together. "Don't worry. You're going to be safe."

Annahvi looked at him reluctantly before smiling with a nod of her head.

"C'mon you two!" Honeydew called out as he hurried down the corridor, "We've got to get Reverend_John!"

The three of them began to descend down a flight of stairs, but Honeydew stopped short when they could see him in the light of the torches.

"Oh wait!" Honeydew said as he continued down, "He's only got...I think he's only got a crappy sword!"

"A golden sword, yeah.." Xephos said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. They continued down the corridors as Honeydew would placed a torch on the walls every few feet.

"Four torches..." Honeydew counted down, "Three torches!"

And as the three heroes turned a corner, the Reverend managed to attack the Dwarf.

"Oh you bugger!" Honeydew swore, "Com'ere! Com'ere!" He disappeared around the corner, and Xephos and Annahvi followed behind, she spotted a golden sword, discarded on the floor.

"What happened to his sword?" Xephos asked as he noticed the sword, "Did he throw his sword on the floor then?"

"He doesn't have a sword, but he's got a piece of paper, Lewis." Honeydew said as he tried to fight back the mad Reverend. "He's got a very nasty piece of paper and he's giving me paper cuts with it. It's probably more damage than a golden sword is."

"Go and take him out!" Xephos cheered on.

"Com'ere!" Honeydew continued, "Give me that piece of paper!"

But as Xephos looked to his Dwarven friend, he saw that the Reverend was in a strange room which contained fine sand. "What's in that weird room?" Annahvi poked her head over his shoulder and caught sight of the sand.

"I've got it!" Honeydew said as the two of them entered the room, noticing the Reverend's torches which were on the floor, "He's dead! He's dead, guys! And he's exploded into torches. It's quite convenient - we needed those."

Upon entered the room, the first thing the heroes saw was the massive quantity of sand which filled the room. The room itself wasn't large, but it wasn't small. There was a high ceiling, and walls which were buried under sand. Two of walls, had portals agains them - one on each wall. The one portal on the left was damaged and no longer functioning. The portal on the right, however, was in proper working order, with an erie purple vortex with alien sounds.

"We are in a horrible room." Xephos said as his eyes scanned around the room. "There's a portal..."

"Oh God," Honeydew said as he examined the left portal, "There's another portal. This one...I don't know - it's not working. But the _other_ one is working."

"Ah yeah." Xephos said as he and Annahvi examined the other portal, "That one might be the one that Old_Peculier's father destroyed."

"So now what?" Annahvi said, poking her finger through the vortex, then instantly pulling away.

"I think we've got to destroy it." Honeydew said, pulling out his diamond pickaxe.

"Not go try and go through it?" the other man asked.

"I think this is what Old_Peculier taught us, Lewis." With that, Honeydew began to chip away at the obsidian frame. "Watch my back in case, like, anyone else we previously met has turned undead and gonna attack me."

Xephos couldn't help but suppress a chuckle, but as he did so Honeydew completed destroying the portal, and spoke out once again. "Oh God, what if _Daisy_ turned?!"

"Oh don't even think about it!" Xephos said for both him and Annahvi, before looking around the room, "Um...What's the best situation to do now? What do we do now - now we're, like, at the bottom of this bloody castle in the middle of nowhere. How deep do we reckon we are? Do you reckon we could just dig up? "

"It's a possibility," Annahvi shrugged

"Also, sand! Have you noticed this - why is there...Why is the room full of sand?"

"And there was sand at the Yogcave." Honeydew contemplated, "There was sand there and there's sand here...Hm..."

As the Dwarf was trying to piece together all of the clues, Xephos was busy trying to dig a staircase out of the strange room they were in. "Let me dig up the surface." Xephos said, looking up to see the stars blinking back. "Oh yeah! Yep, yep! Look how close we are! We're right at the surface!"

"Thank God!" Annahvi breathed as she quickly rejoined her friend

"Hopefully no Creepers will fall on my head." he muttered as they began to dig out of the strange room, but Honeydew couldn't help but laugh.

"You just jinxed yourself," he chuckled, following behind the two fellow heroes, "You're doomed."

"Here we are!" Xephos said, finished a crude staircase of sand leading up the surface of Minecraftia. He quickly climbed straight out and then turned to Annahvi and Honeydew who were following behind.

"Look where we are!" he said, looking to see the city not too far away. The fired danced in the sky as water pipes spew out fresh water onto the streets and beyond the city border. As the Dwarf quickly climbed out of the hole, Annahvi poked her head out and fixated her eyes on the burning ruins.

"The bright lights of Mistral City." Honeydew said sarcastically as they approached the city. Annahvi knew that he was simply being jest, but there was a slight pang in her heart as the bright flames flickered and waved in the nigh sky. The Yogcave had been their home, just as Mistral City had been the home of countless others. Where would they go now? She remembered that Knight_Peculier said many of the citizens had managed to evacuate, but what remained of those trapped within the burning ruins? Had they suffered a similar fate to Granny_Bacon and Reverend_John?

Xephos turned to Annahvi and noticed her eyes had become foggy as she was lost in thought once more; he turned to the city, and then back to her.

"Annahvi," he said, causing her to blink a few times and look up to him.

"I'm sorry, Lewis." she said, "It's just..."

"I know." he said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "But I promise you, we'll stop this from ever happening again."

She looked up at him, her eyes shinning brightly in contrast of the burning city, before she finally smiled weakly with a nod of her head.

"By the way, guys," Honeydew said, "I don't know if you've noticed, Fumblemore's tower is - is gone, I can't see it. Unless I'm blind or stupid, it's gone."

"Do you reckon' he blew himself up?" Xephos asked as he and Annahvi searched for the wizard's tower in the sky.

"Either he blew himself up," Honeydew said, "or it's disappeared."

"That's mysterious..." Xephos mumbled, "Where did Old_Peculier say we need to go?"

"I believe he said we were to take the back road out of Mistral." Annahvi recalled.

"Yeah, he said 'Take the back road out of town', he said, yeah..."

"The back road," Honeydew repeated as he attacked a zombie, "Oh you little shit, come here." However, Xephos was quick to assist his friend. "Doin' a _very_ good job, are you there, pal?"

"No," the Dwarf replied as Xephos began to form a bridge over the water, "For some reason, zombies can hit you before you can hit them. I haven't had the same problem with other monsters, just zombies...weird."

Unfortunately, Xephos was too busy listening to his friend, and accidentally fell of the makeshift bridge and back into the water.

"Oh shit...he cursed as he swam back to the surface.

"Oh good effort there, mate." Honeydew said sarcastically as Annahvi helped him out of the water, "You've outdone yourself."

"Why is there water here?" Xephos said as he looked to see the water coming from the remains of an apartment, "Is that..."

"Careful," Annahvi warned, "There's a spider." firing a few arrows at the monster.

"I think was Jasper's house," Xephos said as he looked back to ruins "wasn't it. This must be Jasper's that's, like, flooded everywhere."

"And this is an airship." the Dwarf called out as he examined the remains of an airship's ballon.

"Was that - do you reckon that was over at Jasper's house?" Xephos said as he and Annahvi joined him. He paused for a moment, starring a the ruined airship "So it Jasper good or bad? I mean, was he, like, actually - was Lysander _actually_ the bad one?"

The Elf looked to her friends who were entranced in their own conversation, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

There was a part of Annahvi that was beginning to believe that Skylord_Lysander _was_ evil. She wanted to believe that he would hurt them. She wanted to move on and make herself believe that he was all just a lie and that their friendship wasn't real. And yet, not matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't let go. Annahvi and her friends has only been in Mistral City for a few days, and yet they had already been on so many adventures with him. Deep down she saw Skylord_Lysander as a friend, and the idea that he could harm them broke her heart.

Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder, making her jump and look up.

"Relax, Annahvi," Xephos said reassuringly, "It's just me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Right..." she sighed, looking down at the cobblestone streets.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand, "We've got to find this back road and get out of here."

She looked at him, still partially lost in thought, but either way nodded her head and they began to walk down Victoria Street. As the two of them continued down the street with Honeydew following behind, they stopped at a familiar sign which had survived the fires.

"Yeah look," Xephos said as he read the sign "Grandma Bacon's Greasy Spoon Tea Shop"

"Oh God, Lewis! Granny_Bacon!" Honeydew sobbed as they began to walk into the remains of the shop.

All of the walls had been destroyed in the fires, and part of the pool table as well. The seats and tables had survived the cataclysm as well as the counters and stoves, but the signs which once hung above were all in ashes. The heroes were surprised to see two cakes on the counters, one which was mostly eaten, and the other completely untouched.

"She's never gonna come back, Simon." Xephos said as Honeydew began sobbing uncontrollably, then stuffing his face with the cakes. Sobbing then eating, then sobbing and eating once more. Xephos couldn't help but laugh as he saw his friend in the same disposition that most teenager girls would be in, but as he hopped off the counter and into a strange pool of water, his brows arched in confusion.

"What is this water here?" he mumbled aloud. As he tried to wade through the water, Honeydew had hopped over the counter and into the water as well. Then he saw a sign hanging above where the water was flowing.

"Oh." he sighed

"What?"

"Outhouse Please Wash your Hands and Flush" he read, to which Honeydew replied with a horrified moan.

"Oh God!" he said as Annahvi joined her friends, careful not to step in the...'liquid', "I'm swimming in other people's feculence, Lewis! Oh Jesus!"

"Yuck..." Xephos retched as they left back to the main square. "Okay, um...Which way was the back road out of town," he looked down the cemetery, "Was it this way?"

"Uh yeah, yeah." Honeydew agreed, "This must be it, because we came in over there, so it must be in _this_ direction, it must be the back."

"Through the graveyard..." he said as they walked through the cemetery. Not stopping to pay their respects to the dead, and probably never doing so ever again. They stopped at the end of the graveyard to the remains of the message board where one single sign was placed.

"Yeah, so did you see?" Xephos asked as he looked at the sign, "Mrs. Miggles has found her cat, by the way, so that's good news."

"Icaria..." Honeydew read, "What is Icaria?"

"I don't know, I think that's where Father_Braeburn said he was gonna go, didn't he?"

"Yeah..." Annahvi sighed as they continued beyond the message board and past the blacksmith's.

"Oh here we go! Over here!" Honeydew called out, causing the other two heroes to look at their Dwarven friend who was at the base of a set of stairs which lead to a road outside of town.

"Look at this!" he said excitedly as he headed up the stairs and down the path, "This looks like a back road."

"Okay!" Xephos said, ready for their next adventure. But as they reached the outskirts of the city, and over a small stream, they stopped.

"Oh..." Honeydew said, slightly deflated as he looked out in the distance, "And there's the skull..." But as they stood there, Xephos could faintly see a white title which was moving. But the moment he read the name, his mind clicked. "Israphel is behind the skull." he said, surprisingly without any urgency, but Annahvi and Honeydew were more than eager to press on. "Do we chase?" Xephos asked, but Honeydew was already headed down the path to the skull, yelling, "'Course we chase! Of _course_ we chase! We must save Daisy!"

And with that, Honeydew and Xephos ran to the base of the stairs with Annahvi following right behind. But as her friends seemed captivated by the ominous structure, she turned back once more to catch a glimpse of the burning city in all its splendor. It was then that she remember what Skylord_Lysander said to her when they first reached the city.

_"Behold the gleaming spires of Mistral!"_

Annahvi sighed grimly as she turned back and looked to the mouth of the skull. The city certainly gleamed now.


	14. Chapter 12

The three of them stood at the base of the cobblestone stairs, looking up as the stairs trailed up the mouth of the ominous skull barely illuminated by the torches and moonlight.

"It's a spooky place..." Honeydew said, "It's a giant skull..."

"I think we're quite prepared, though." Xephos said optimistically as he put away the golden sword he had picked up from Reverend_John, "I've got my torches. What kind of thing to you reckon we're gonna get? Is it, like, just gonna be a long dark tunnel? Is there gonna be lava?" As he was suggesting a few options, he saw the their Dwarven friend placing down several torches on the ground.

"We're gonna need those, probably." Xephos scolded as Honeydew and Annahvi put away the torches.

"I think..." Honeydew said, "Well Israphel walked through there, didn't he. But that was a while ago. So he probably, like, Godknows where. He probably _miles_ away."

"We'll then we'd better get going." Annahvi urged, taking out her bow. The Space Man and Dwarf nodded their heads and agreement before looking up the stairs one last time. As the two men were busy looking at the skull, Annahvi turned to see a sign planted into the stone next to them.

SKULL PASS

Enter at your own risk!

"Do you want to go first?" Xephos asked, trying to hide the slight anxiety in his voice. Annahvi just gave him a look of disbelief. "Ugh, let's just go." he sighed as the three of them hurried up the stairs and to the very top of Skull Pass.

"Get your sword ready!" Xephos instructed, taking out his diamond sword.

"I got me sword."

With that, the three heroes quickly entered the mouth which was actually a well lit corridor with wooden stairs. Annahvi looked around as she realized the mouth of the skull was mostly just made of black wool, and just beyond the wool was an iron door.

"Xephos?" she asked softly, but neither he nor Honeydew heard her. Instead, the two of them were fixated on a few signs which hung at the top of the wooden stairs.

"What?" Honeydew said as he read aloud, "You mu- You must be at least this tall to ride. For safety keep your arms and legs inside the ride."

"What?" Annahvi repeated as she looked around. The stairs then divided into two separate stairs which bent around the same way.

"Uh...okay." Xephos said as they headed up the stairs, completely bewildered. They were once again greeted with another sign, this time much shorter.

"This way to FUN!" the Dwarf read once more as they headed up a set of stairs the sign pointed to. "So is this...Is this a theme park"

"I don't know," Xephos said as he glanced at another sign, "Maybe. Let's go!" Annahvi quickly saw the sign which read "Keep Going!" with an arrow pointed to yet another set of stairs.

The Space Man followed the instructions of the sign with no pause, but once he reached the base of the stairs, he was quite surprised to see a strange creature. It wasn't exactly a man, but very similar in appearance with hair all over its arms and legs. As Annahvi and Honeydew were quick to take note of the hairy creature, Xephos saw a white title right above his head: Mr_Banjo.

"There's a man here." Xephos said.

"Is he wearin' a gorilla suit?" Honeydew asked.

"I think so."

The three heroes looked to each other in confusion before looking back at Mr_Banjo.

"Hello, Mr_Banjo," Honeydew said as he stepped forward. Instantly, the man backed away and began grunting and started beating his chest before going up the stairs.

"He _is_ wearin' a gorilla suit!" Honeydew confirmed as the three heroes laughed.

"Well I don't think he's dangerous." Annahvi said as they followed after Mr_Banjo, "He might be a nutter, but I don't think he's dangerous."

When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw water streaming down and flowing out of the strange cave, and beside it was yet another sign.

"Wheeeeee?" Annahvi read in confusion.

"Oh God!" Xephos said as Mr. Banjo slid down with the water and out of the cave, "Is this like a water slide? You go first!" He nudged Honeydew forward until the Dwarf stood on the edge before jumping into the water.

The Elf and Space Man looked at each other before she laughed and grabbed his hand. "C'mon!" she chuckled, "It could be fun!" With that, she quickly slid into the water with Xephos beside her, and two of them quickly followed Mr_Banjo and Honeydew down. They quickly exited the cave and flowed with the channel of water, leading them to a magnificent sight.

"What the Christ?" Honeydew said, saying exactly what all three heroes were thinking. Below them were several stands and tents with bright colors adorned with torches, and yet behind the tents and flags was a large building, a castle or fortress, reaching up as high as the mountains, with white flags fluttering in the breeze. They looked down and saw Mr_Banjo at the bottom of the water beside a tend, and he let out a loud screech as the three heroes fell into a pool of water and swam onto solid ground.

Despite how strange the entire situation was, Xephos could help but chuckle to himself as Annahvi smiled brightly at him.

"Well that was fun," she laughed as she wrung out her mousey brown hair. He looked at her, slightly amused and relieved at the same time; it was good that she was no longer upset or unhappy. But then, the three of them looked around once more, the entire place appeared much bigger from the ground.

"What the hell is..." Honeydew began, but that was when Mr_Banjo finally spoke.

"Welcome to Carnivale del Banjo!" he said in a rather high voice, slightly muffled by his gorilla head.

As Xephos and Honeydew continued to look around, Annahvi looked at one of the stands, and behind the wooden counter. The man had no hair on his head, but he had a large mustache along with some chest hair, which was visible due to the lack of clothing he wore. Annahvi tilted her head to the left in confusion as she read his title, Strongman_Bruno. He starred back at her, equally confused before she tilted her head to the right and waved at him.

"This is not quite what I expected," Xephos said, causing Annahvi to turn to her friends.

"No," Honeydew agreed as Xephos spotted a woman titled Madame_Nubescu , "I was expecting, like, some dark and horrible place, I mean, like, a dungeon. But it's just a theme ride."

"Well I'm glad this isn't what I expected." Annahvi said, as the three of them turned to Mr_Banjo.

"Did you enjoy the FREE trip down our premiere ride? The SKULL!" he asked. Mr_Banjo had removed the head to his gorilla suit to reveal a normal man - albeit eccentric, but not deformed. "I had you fooled didn't I?" he laughed, "You see I am NOT ACTUALLY a gorilla! I am just a man! Mr_Banjo, at your service! Welcome, again, friends!"

"Nice to meet you," Annahvi said, shaking the man's hand. Honeydew laughed as he greeted him. "Hello Mister Banjo! Please don't hurt me..." The two of them turned around to see that Xephos was no longer beside them.

"Where have you gone?" Honeydew called out, just as Xephos stepped out from behind one of the stalls.

"Sorry, I'm-I'm taking in the sights."

"There's so much to see, isn't there?"

"It's very colorful," Annahvi laughed as they looked to Madame_Nubescu once again. She had very dark skin - obviously genetic - and short black hair. She wore some make up along with two golden bracelets, a pair of diamond earrings, and a necklace. Finally, she wore a simple dark blue dress that just almost hid a pair of bright red shoes.

"Welcome strange ones!" she greeted, but the Dwarf and Space Man took no interest in greetings.

"Where the hell are we?" Honeydew asked bluntly to no one in particular.

"Have you seen a pale faced man? And an old knight?"

"Why," Mr_Banjo answered to the Dwarf, "This is the world-renowned Carnivale del Banjo! I do believe I said so before!"

"How unlike us to not pay attention to what people say," Honeydew laughed before Madame_Nubescu spoke up.

"Sorry about them," Annahvi laughed before shaking the woman's hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Hmmm...Nubescu did be feeling something." she said, "An evil spirit did wash other this place."

Xephos and Annahvi looked at each other, trying their best to contain their laughter. Madame_Nubescu spoke in what could only be described as a croak. Her voice was extremely deep and jagged with high squeaks.

"How old is she? God, she sounds older than Granny_Bacon!" Xephos chuckled softly, making Annahvi punching him jokingly.

"Her voice is just like, dust, isn't it." Honeydew said softly

"It's like gravely dust..." Xephos laughed before turning back to their friends.

"No evil whatsoever!" Mr_Banjo said, a bit too quickly, "This is a beautiful and exciting and fun and exciting place!"

"Um...you said exciting twice, Mr_Banjo." Annahvi noted, but the strange man was already off, and Madame_Nubescu continued to talk in her alien voice.

"But Nubescu knows all about da mysteries of da voodoo!"

"What do we do here?" Xephos said, being able to take in his full surroundings.

"The things we have here!" Mr_Banjo said, running off to one of the stalls, "Look, look!"

"Well this guy just want to show us around," Honeydew said as they followed him , "Well this is his place, his carnival."

He lead the three heroes to a stall with blue and gold colors, and a single sign was hung.

Madame

Nubescu's

Hoodoo House

of Voodoo

"Nubescu's place!" he said, "Very voodoo and mysterious!"

Of course, the three heroes were busy exploring a few other tents when the owner of the tent spoke up. "Visit Nubescu's tent later if jah want to know ya future!"

"Ooh!" Annahvi said, as if she was a little child, "Fortune telling!"

"Should we have our fortune told from Nubescu?" Honeydew asked.

"That might be good."

"She seems to know something..."

"Very voodoo and mysterious!" Mr_Banjo encouraged.

"I don't see what harm it can do." Annahvi shrugged with an innocent grin. And so, they returned to Madame_Nubescu's stall and waited as she joined them on the other side of the counter.

"She will tell you your future, your fortune, your destiny, and your fate!" Mr_Banjo continued before softly adding, "For a small sum of gold, of course."

"Sum of gold," Honeydew said, instantly turning to his friends, "Hang on a minute. No one mentioned- _No one_ mentioned gold."

"EXCITING!" the carny shouted, trying to belittle the topic of pay.

"Ahhh..." Madame_Nubescu said, "Jah be wantin' ta know what da spirits have in store for jah?"

"Oh I've got some gold!" Xephos said as he searched through his inventory, "Remember? I stole some from um...old Daisy_Duke's dad's basement."

"Oh of _course _you did!" Honeydew said, "Of course you did. I've got some gold ore actually."

"Me too." Annahvi said, pulling out a few chunks of gold.

"Have you? Some gold ore?"

"Yeah I think we dug it form the mine underneath what used to be Mistral City."

"Jah have tah be crossin' mah palms with ten gold ingots."

"Oh no! My chicken!" Mr_Banjo cried, to no one in particular, "It died in the fire."

"Ten gold ingots!" Honeydew squeaked.

"Well I've got three blocks," Xephos said as he quickly undid the strings tying the ingots together, "Oh yeah, I've got _loads_. I've got _loads_. I've got twenty-seven gold ingots."

"Holy crap!"

"I told you it was good to take the gold.

"You were right." Honeydew chuckled before the Madame_Nubescu spoke up.

"Since there be three of jah, that'd be thirty."

"Oh shit," Xephos cursed, "I think she overheard us talkin'."

"Just give her the thirty." Honeydew sighed.

"I've only got twenty-seven." he said as he searched his inventory.

"It's alright." Annahvi said, rummaging around until she pulled out ten golden bars and showed them to Madame_Nubescu, "I can pay for myself."

"Are you sure?" Xephos said, "That's a lot of gold you giving."

"I'm perfectly capable of paying for myself." the Elf pouted as Madame_Nubescu eyed gold. The Space Man looked at her, wanting to argue, but said nothing else and showed the fortune teller twenty more gold.

"Very well stranger," she said, "Come with me down to da scrying chamber."

"Scrying chamber?" Honeydew repeated.

"I think it's like a fortune telling room." Annahvi said as she followed Xephos around to the side of the stall where they joined Madame_Nubescu behind the counter, but where shocked when they saw her travel down a long ladder into an underground room.

"Where is it?" Xephos asked as Honeydew jumped down. There was a rather loud thud and the two heroes looked down to see their Dwarven friend lying on the ground on his back.

"Ladders were never my strong point." he groaned as he sat upright.

The two heroes chuckled to one another before joining the other two down to the scrying chamber.

"Jah be watchin' that step." she warned, but the other heroes managed to get down without any issues. The scrying chamber was slightly different than what they expected from a fortune teller. The room had a lush red carpet with walls of light and dark purple stripes, but there were chests all over the room with signs above, and in the middle was a cauldron made of obsidian.

"Watch yourselves down there!" Mr_Banjo called out, "It's very dark and mysterious ohhohohohoho!"

Annahvi glanced up to where they had climbed down before looking at the several chests in the room.

"Welcome..." Madame_Nubescu said, "to da voodoo scrying room!"

"Flowers dem would offer dem who be mourned." Honeydew read. Annahvi and Xephos examined the chest to see several roses, a few leaves, some yellow flowers, and a few apples.

"Stuff what be making jah teeth go black," the Dwarf read as he opened yet another chest, and this time the two men burst into the entire chest was filled with papers, canes, and powders. Annahvi just looked at the two of them in confusion before reaching to take some of the powder, but Xephos was quick to stop her.

"I wouldn't if I were you." he said, chuckling nervously. She arched her brow in confusion before nodding her head and wandering around the room, examining more chests.

"Step up to da cauldron when jah be done snoopin' around mah voodoo supplies."

"S-Sorry..." Annahvi chuckled innocently as the they all gathered around the cauldron.

"What do we need to do?" Xephos asked.

"Now..." Madame_Nubescu said, "da spirits cloud jah future."

"Spirits?" Annahvi asked softly, but the Dwarf just shrugged.

"But...dem cobwebs be blown away easy with a little gold!"

"Are we doing - Are we doing it one at a time?" Honeydew asked, "Or are our futures..."

"Intwined?"

"I don't know, I feel like we should get our money's worth. Yeah...intwined."

"Throw in thirty ingots into da cauldron along with other offerings to da spirits. Jah be seeing the list of what dey be wantin' here." she then turned to a pair of signs which hung on the wall across from the three, and saw that there was a list of objects.

"Oh right," Xephos said as he joined her, "She's looking at them, um, this list over here. Oh right, okay, so we need one red mushroom, one raw fish, an ink sack, a sugar cane, one cactus, and one lapis."

"Oh for God's sake." Honeydew said, "Why do we need all this?!" Of course, while this was happening, his two friends began to scrounge around the room, searching to for the required objects.

"I don't really have much inventory space." Xephos said as he placed a red mushroom in his inventory, "Hang on, I'll - I've got a mushroom, I'll throw that in and I'll throw the gold in as well."

"Here's mine." Annahvi said throwing her gold into the cauldron as well.

"I thought we needed just the gold and now we need, like, a whole load of...just crap! What the hell is this shit? I'm very disappointed, Madame_Nubescu."

"I don't be settin' da price Dwarf," Madame_Nubescu claimed, "It be da spirits."

"I'll get the cactus and sugar." Annahvi mumbled.

"Are you gonna help us here or not?" Xephos called out as he quickly placed a chunk of lapis lazuli into his inventory

"Oh do we need it from the chest - are they in the chests?"

"Yeah!" Xephos said as Annahvi threw in a few more objects, "Look, obviously! Look, there's all different stuff, isn't there?"

"Why doesn't _she _just get the recipe? Why doesn't she just get the ingredients out?" Honeydew asked as he began to rummage through the chests.

"Because she told us to do it, you lazy bugger!" Xephos said as he threw the lapis lazuli into the cauldron.

"If jah don' like it," Madame_Nubescu said, "Ja can go visit Bruno!"

"Okay, I've got the lapis." He then turned to the chart on the wall, "Um...One cactus, one sugar, one ink sack."

"I've got an ink sac," Honeydew said, "I've got a sugar cane somewhere..."

"Here's the cactus," Annahvi said, as she opened one of the chests.

"I think that's it, isn't it?" he said as they gathered around the cauldron once more, "Did you put the lapis lazuli in there?"

"I put the lapis, yeah, I think we're done." As Annahvi placed the cactus into the cauldron, the three of them once again looked to Madame_Nubescu.

"Have we done it right, oh Madame?" Honeydew asked, but she said nothing and instead examined the cauldron.

"She sounds like she smokes, like, sixty a day." Xephos chuckled, "That's what she sounds like."

"And I think the way she smokes is," Honeydew joked, "she just - she lights up the cigarette, she inhales and it goes down the entire length of the cigarette with just that one intake of breath, and then she just - she uses, like, the um...the dog end to light the next cigarette and she just does the same. Like every intake of breath is like that."

"Mmm I can sense it..." the Madame finally spoke, causing the three heroes to stop talking, "Da spirits be happy with jah offering."

"Do we have to stir it?" Xephos asked, "How deep is this thing actually? Where did our stuff go?" he leaned over and stared deep into the cauldron.

"Oh don't!" Honeydew said as Annahvi pulled him back, "Don't fall in the bloody cauldron. We'll end up making Lewis soup."

"I might get boiled alive." He said. As they were talking, Madame_Nubescu had come closer to the caldron and was staring intensely at the waters as they swirled around. "Now let me mix it up with mah voodoo stick!" She pulled out a wooden stick and began to stir the waters, as she chanted a few words, foreign to all of the heroes.

"Ooomba woomba, viggy ambuk! Spirits oh de Nether, jah ere mah.. mah.."

As she chanted, they all saw Honeydew with another wooden stick, stirring the waters a bit.

"What jah be doin jah fool?" she scolded, stopping her chanting and starring directly at the Dwarf. "Get away! Dis be a delicate incantation. I can't have jah be Dwarfin' it up!"

"I apologize," Honeydew said, trying his best not to laugh. She gave him one last look before looking back into the waters and clearing her throat.

"Da clouds, dey be lifting...I hear the spirits speaking through me."

She opened her mouth to speak once more, but instead of the craggily voice they had begun to adapt to, there was a high voice of a young woman.

"Do not mourn for your lost love! More bacon awaits you at your journey's end!"

As Xephos and Annahvi starred intently at Madame_Nubescu, Honeydew spoke up once more. "Oh God, there's a sheep!"

"Again?" Annahvi sighed before turning around to see that a sheep was roaming around, "Must've forgotten to close the door..."

"Oh my God," Honeydew continued, "it's a spirit! It's a spirit! Oh my God!"

"What does dat mean an.. an.." Madame_Nubescu then looked to the Dwarf in confusion, but then saw the sheep behind him. "What is this sheep be doin' in may scryin' chamber!"

Upon hearing this, Honeydew was quick to kill the sheep and then faced his friends.

"Thank jah, Dwarf." Madame_Nubescu said as she collected some wool off the sheep.

"Is that it?" he asked, "My fortune is 'You will get bacon'?"

"That's quite a good fortune, I guess as they go." Xephos said.

"It is. It's not bad. I guess I was hopin' for something a little more..."

"Profound?"

"I don't know, more in depth. More profound indeed."

"Okay Space Man," Madame_Nubescu said as she turned to Xephos, "Jah turn! Looma jooma ambuk dooma!" And once again, her voice changed into a dainty high tone. "You shall be met again by a man in blue and a man in red."

"Who does that refer to?" Xephos asked, and both of his friend just gave him equally confused looks.

"Trust you heart, and know they are not as they seem."

"Well it's more prophetic that getting bacon." Annahvi chuckled, causing Xephos to smile back at her before Madame_Nubescu spoke up once more.

"And now for you Elven friend."

"Oh." Annahvi said eagerly, "Right!"

And so for the final time, Madame_Nubescu began to fortune reading. "Moomba ambuk tiggy noomba." However, instead of a kind voice of guidance, Madame_Nubescu looked at her in fear.

"Be warned, you cannot prevent the blood that will be spilt, but do not let hatred cloud your judgement. Your kindness will protect your friends."

With those words, a shiver went down Annahvi's spine and she swallowed nervously, but nodded her head, as if obeying someone's instructions.

"Dat be all," Madame_Nubescu said, returning to her 'normal' voice, "The spirits, dey no longer speakin' through me." But the moment she said that her brow furrowed and she pause for a moment. "Wait, wait, what's this? They be speaking through me once more. They have a message for a friend."

"Old_Peculier?" Honeydew asked anxiously.

"A knight, old, but filled with life."

"That's him!" Honeydew yelled happily, crushing Xephos and Annahvi in a rather smothering embrace, "That's him, guys! She means Old_Peculier!"

"His family has secrets," Madame_Nubescu spoke, her voice changed once more, "but he does not know. His father...is not who he says he is..."

"Oh God," Honeydew said, dropping his friends, "That sounds ominous."

"Hmmmm dis be unclear, come back later. I will see what I can be scrying."

"Thank you voodoo lady." Xephos said

"We will check in later with you," Honeydew said as they left, "Thank you Madame! You crazy woman!"

"God," Xephos sighed, "We've been down here for _ages_."

And yet, even as the Space Man and Dwarf joked together, Annahvi couldn't shake the fear of her fortune. Fortunes were always correct, she thought to herself, but even if this was so, at least her friends would be safe. At least, that's what she hoped.


	15. Chapter 13

"Jah be enjoyin' da carnival, strangers." the voodoo witch said as the three heroes looked back to where they had entered the scrying chamber.

"Let's get out of here,"

"How?" Honeydew asked, but Xephos and Annahvi were quick to motion to the set of ladders at the entrance. "Oh there we go," the Dwarf said as he successfully managed to grab the ladder and begin climbing back up to the surface. The other two heroes followed behind their Dwarven friend, but almost instantly after he reached the top, Honeydew practically fell and onto Xephos.

"Woah!" he said as he grabbed one of the rungs on the ladder, "What the fuck?"

"Honeydew?" Annahvi asked as she help her friend regain his balance, "What's wrong?" However, both she and Xephos were able to see what shocked their friend when they reached the top of the ladders. Mr_Banjo was apparently standing at the edge of the drop, and he had donned on an array of makeup and clothes so that he resembled a clown.

"HELLO!" he greeted happily as Xephos flinched back at the pale face and green hair, "Hello..." he returned, slightly unnerved.

"Why so serious?" Honeydew grumbled softly, causing his friends to chuckle slightly.

"Mr_Banjo," Annahvi said, "You erm...startled us."

"If he asks you if you want to see a trick," Honeydew said, "Just say 'No, not interested.'"

"It's be! MR_Banjo! Don't Panic!" the carnival owner said, "I'm just _dressed up_ as something else.

"You look like a serial killer." Honeydew laughed nervously.

"Don't worry too much. Oh hohohoho!" as he laughed, completely oblivious to the discomfort he was causing, Mr_Banjo suddenly rushed out of Madame_Nubescu's stall, "Come, friends, to the excitingest bit of all this! It's a word!"

"Are you sure?" Annahvi said as they quickly followed him, but he didn't answer. Instead, Mr_Banjo lead the three heroes to a set of benches beyond the waterfall of the Skull Pass.

"It's the strongman." Honeydew said, glancing at Bruno_Strongman behind his stall.

"THIS IS BRUNO!" Mr_Banjo announced to the three heroes, "The strongest man in the world! This is a fact, not just a hyperbole! There was an investigation and Bruno won." Xephos couldn't help but laugh at the man's last sentence.

While Annahvi just smiled and waved, both Xephos and Honeydew looked at him in confusion. "Tiny Dwarf," the strongman spoke, in a rather deep and almost neanderthal voice, "you look strong as little mouse!"

He boomed with a hearty laugh as Honeydew grit his teeth and leaned against the counter separating the two men. If it wasn't there, he probably would have struck the strongman down. Both Xephos and Annahvi were quick to notice the several stacks of objects behind Strongman_Bruno, no doubt used to show off his strength.

"HOW dare you!" Honeydew began, but the other man interrupted him. "You are weak little baby man." as he laughed again, the Dwarf turned scarlet and gripped the iron sword in his hand. "How VERY dare you!" He gasped. "He's mocking me!"

"He is world-renowned! For being strong!" Mr_Banjo added, "Very strong! He can smash ANYTHING! With his fists, and head; mostly fists." However, no one was really paying any mind to what he was saying. Honeydew was to caught up in arguing with the strongman, and Annahvi and Xephos were trying their best to prevent a brawl.

"He called me a weak little baby man!"

"Well you-" Xephos began nervously, "you are a _dwarf_."

"Little baby want challenge big Bruno?!" The three heroes took note that Strongman_Bruno had a tendency to pronounce 'baby' differently.

"He's so strong, it's unbelievably incredible!" Mr_Banjo said.

"I am strong." Honeydew said, trying to sound charismatic, "like MOOSE!"

"I don't know," Xephos said, "He's call Strongman_Bruno. I mean, it kind of defies... I don't know. Is there a test of strength? Is there a way- is there some sort of challenge here?"

"This is the TEST OF STRENGTH!" the carnival leader answered, a little louder than necessary, "Can you challenge Bruno like a proper brave man?"

"I need to prove-," Honeydew began, but stopped in mid sentence when he looked down to see that Strongman_Bruno was wearing nothing but a pair of pink pants; Not even a set of trousers. "Oh God, look! He's wearing tiny, little pink ladies' pants!"

"That's what strongmen wear," Xephos explained before adding, "I think..."

"Bring on the test of strength!" Strongman_Bruno called out.

"You are wearing tiny little pink ladies pants." Honeydew blatantly stated, "Like a tiny little lady!"

"He's shoving off his six-pac as well..." Xephos said,

"Look at him flexing!" Mr_Banjo boasted as the strongman began to exit his stall and walk towards the heroes. "So strong!"

"Oh God," Xephos said, "He's coming 'round Simon. Careful! He's gonna hurt-" But as he and Annahvi quickly stepped to the side, expecting Strongman_Bruno to face Honeydew, he simply walked past he Dwarf.

"Where's he going?" Xephos asked.

"Onto that stage, there." Annahvi answered, as they watched him walk up a set of stairs and onto a wooden platform. The two examined the stage for a moment, and it was then that they noticed two plates on the edge of the stage. One read 'World's Strongest Man!' and the other read 'Challenger!'

"Oh I see!" the Space Man said in realization to Honeydew who was already heading up the stage on a different set of stairs, "Okay, I think you're the challenger. You need to go back up there. Yeah, that's right."

"Okay, a challenge has been started!" Mr_Banjo declared.

"Oh my God," Honeydew sighed, "Oh my God, what's going on? Oh God!"

"You're on stage." Xephos answered.

"It's a Test of Strength," Annahvi added.

"I will be the referee." Mr_Banjo said, "There will be no cheating."

"Is there like a little um...a little tub of dust you can, like, slap your hands in before you pick up the dumbbell?" Xephos asked

"Do I need to take my armor off?" Honeydew asked, "And get nude?"

"Probably," he shrugged, "Yeah..."

"Okay," Honeydew said, standing on the edge of the stage, "Hang on..."

He quickly removed the iron helm, chest plate, leggings, and boots which he had been wearing and tossed them to the side, next to Annahvi and Xephos.

"COMPETITION TIME!" Mr_Banjo said excitedly as Honeydew began flexing. However, Strongman_Bruno was not fazed.

"You look like little babby." he retorted.

"Little babby?!" Honeydew said, "Oh I'm gonna show him..."

"You can do this, Honeydew!" Annahvi cheered

"BRING ON THE TEST...of...STRENGTH!"

"How does this work?" Xephos asked.

"Bugger if I know..." Annahvi shrugged

"Here we go! Round ONE!"

"What do we do?" Honeydew asked as he looked at Strongman_Bruno in confusion, "Do we fight?"

"You must smash everything Bruno smashes." Mr_Banjo explained, "FISTS ONLY! No cheating!"

"Okay," the Dwarf said, breathing in and out.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Annahvi said to Xephos, "Honeydew was born to smash and destroy."

"Round one! CAKE!"

With that, Mr_Banjo placed two cakes on the stage, one above Strongman_Bruno's sign, and the other above the challenger's sign.

"We have to smash a cake?" Honeydew asked in disbelief.

"Apparently," Xephos chuckled, "Or eat it. I don't know what's quicker, eating it or smashing it..."

Mr_Banjo looked amongst the two competitors and raised his hand.

"And..."

The two men turned to the cakes.

"GET READY!"

Annahvi and Xephos watched with baited breath.

"It's SMASHING time!"

With that, Honeydew raised his fists and began to annihilate the baked good, and it wasn't long before the cake was completely destroyed. However, when he turned to Mr_Banjo, he saw that both him and Strongman_Bruno were looking at him in confusion. Strongman_Bruno hadn't even touched his cake.

"READY...STEADY..." Mr_Banjo had begun saying, but stopped when he saw the obliterated cake. Honeydew, Xephos, and Annahvi burst out into laughter.

"You got hungry." Xephos laughed as Annahvi flicked off a bit of cake from her shirt.

"I won!" Honeydew laughed, jumping up and down, "I WON! IN YOUR FACE!"

"I said no cheating." Mr_Banjo scolded as Strongman_Bruno also began laughing. "Babby lose."

"That's fine," the clown-faced man shrugged, "We have a backup cake. We expect everything here at Carnivale del Banjo!"

"Oh..." the Dwarf laughed, slightly deflated, but still happy, "I got a bit overexcited."

"Here we go again!" Mr_Banjo said, placing down a new cake at Honeydew's feet.

"Ready...Steady...GO!"

And they were off. Honeydew and Strongman_Bruno began to completely destroy their cakes, frosting and bread flying off stage and at the audience - which was only Xephos and Annahvi. In the end, Honeydew was able to smash his cake first, reducing it to a flattened pastry.

"Aw yes!" Xephos cheered, "You _owned_ him! You ate that cake!"

"Aw yeah!" Honeydew cheered as Annahvi quickly swiped the semi destroyed cake from Strongman_Bruno. "YOU ARE WEAK!"

"The challenger wins the cake round!"

"LIKE LITTLE BABBY!" the Dwarf mimicked.

"Om nom nom..." Strongman_Bruno grumbled as he finished a mouthful of cake, "This is tasty round." But other than that, he said nothing else.

"Round two..." Mr_Banjo walked back on stage, "PUMPKIN!"

"Is that cake?" Xephos asked as he saw Annahvi sit beside him with half of a cake. "Do you wants some?" she asked "I cut off the part he smashed." He looked at her in confusion before chuckling and turned back to the contest.

Mr_Banjo had placed down a pumpkin at Strongman_Bruno's feet, but he didn't stop there. He placed down another pumpkin, causing a stack as high as the man himself, and then another pumpkin, until it was taller than him by a large sum.

"Wow..." Xephos said, "Tripe pumpkin. This is a lot of smashing." He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his friend disappear behind a tower of pumpkin.

"Alrighty!" Mr_Banjo said, "Ladies and Gentlemen...It's SMASHING TIME! Round two...Ready...Steady...GO!"

Xephos and Annahvi could only sit at the benches - eating the remains of Strongman_Bruno's cake - and watch as the two men began. At first it seemed that the strongman was ahead when he was first to destroy the top pumpkin, causing a worry amongst the three heroes, but soon Honeydew was able to destroy the top and middle pumpkin, and finally the last, just a few seconds before Strongman_Bruno.

"Oh nice!" Xephos cheered as Annahvi clapped her hands.

"Oh I think I won!" Honeydew said as he jumped on stage victoriously, "How do you like that, _bitch_?! In your face!" He then followed to grab the remains of the pumpkins and chuck them at the other man as he roared victoriously. "DWARVEN SUPREMACY!"

"And the challenger wins the second round as well!" he then turned to the strongman, "Bruno, you're about to get beaten like this!" But the man just scoffed.

"You are so small! It's funny to me!" there was another hearty laugh.

"Why does he mock me? I don't like it..." the Dwarf was only slightly hurt by the man's insults, but he still joked to Xephos and Annahvi by pretending to cry.

"It's time for the _real_ challenges now!" Mr_Banjo said, rummaging through a chest underneath the stage.

"Round three...STONE!"

"Oh my God," Honeydew sighed, "Rock. Solid rock."

"Solid rock." Xephos repeated.

"NOW WE'RE TALKING!" Mr_Banjo cheered as the Dwarf looked nervously at the massive stone placed in front of him.

"This is too easy!" Strongman_Bruno spoke up, turning everyone's attention to him, "Let's make it more interesting."

Honeydew turned to him in confusion, but soon all three heroes were shocked when they saw the man place down nine massive chunks of cobblestone.

"What the fuck?!" Honeydew said on confusion.

"What _is_ he doing?" Xephos asked, "Why is he doing- putting more down?"

"He's givin' himself more stone..." Honeydew said in disbelief as Mr_Banjo laughed.

"Why is he doing that?"

"I don' know," Honeydew said, "Watch him, though! Watch him so he doesn't cheat."

"Okay," Xephos said as he and Annahvi edged closer to the stage.

"I smash ten faster than you smash one!" Strongman_Bruno boasted.

"No way!"

"Only the STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD WOULD do something like that!"

"Well let's see how this goes," Xephos said with a slight chuckle as he and Annahvi began walking towards the stage to examine the strongman, "We'll check - We'll check him to see he's not using a pick or anything..."

"Tis is so exciting!" Mr_Banjo said, hopping up and down, "OKAY! Here we go..."

"Ready...Steady...GO!"

"Go go go go!" Xephos shouted as the two men began bashing at their stone. Unfortunately, they saw that as Honeydew was beginning to form cracks in his stone, Strongman_Bruno had already smashed two loads of cobblestone.

"Oh my God," Xephos sighed, "Bruno, he's destroying the rocks. He's destroying them!"

The Space Man and Elf watched as chucks of rocks began to fly away as he pounded his fists against the stone, but meanwhile Strongman_Bruno had already destroyed nine of the ten stone. With that, Honeydew destroyed his stone, but so did Strongman_Bruno.

"Oh my God," Xephos said, "That was like a photo finish!"

"AND BRUNO WINS!" Mr_Banjo declared, causing the Dwarf to turn scarlet red.

"WHAT?!" he roared in disbelief.

"Just barely!" he added nervously, "I'm sorry, all decisions are final. I was looking _very closely_."

"I don't know," Xephos admitted, "I think it was- I think it was _very_ close."

To this, Strongman_Bruno boomed once more with hearty laughter as he looked down on the Dwarf. "I am mush stronger than you!"

"YOU FUCKING WHAT?!" Honeydew continued, gripping his fists, "I HAVE BEEN ROBBED. You dirty little cheating bastard! TAKE THIS!" with that, Honeydew threw a fist at Mr_Banjo, hitting the man square in the face.

"Honeydew!" Annahvi said, quickly getting on stage and holding back the enraged Dwarf.

"Woah!" Xephos said, "Careful! There's no punching people- you're on a stage with Strongman_Bruno."

"There will be no punching!" Mr_Banjo said, hurrying to the other side of the stage, "Bruno, punch him."

"Mr_Banjo," Annahvi said nervously as Honeydew began to back off the stage, "I'm sure there's no need for violence!"

"Alright, alright." he sighed, "Let's calm down. Tell you what, Dwarf. One final round, for _all_ the bragging rights. If you win, you are officially the Strongest Man- er, Dwarf; In the WORLD!" He quickly hurried to the edge of the stage and reached for the chest underneath and soon returned to the center of the stage.

"Round four...FURNACE!" With that, he placed down two enormous furnaces. "OH MY, OH MY, THIS IS SO EXCITING! Oh boy, oh boy!"

"Madame_Nubescu's watching this as well," Honeydew said, causing Xephos and Annahvi - who was still on the stage - to turn and see the voodoo woman standing by the fire, watching them. "She's come out to see this."

"IT'S THE FINAL ROUND! The immoveable force meeting the unstoppable object, or however that saying goes!"

"Ready...Steady...GO!"

They hit the ground running and began bashing agains the furnace. Xephos and Annahvi could see the determination in Honeydew's eyes as he used all his might and all his strength into every punch he threw at the furnace. But he never had a chance. Bruno was able to destroy the furnace in less than half the time it was taking Honeydew to destroy his furnace.

"BRUNO WINS!" Mr_Banjo declared, as said man laughed triumphantly. "You lose!"

"Oh no," Xephos said as Honeydew finished off the furnace, "This is embarrassing..."

"What the hell?" Honeydew sighed, "What the-" he paused suspiciously before facing Strongman_Bruno, "Hang on a minute, hang on a minute! No no no no no! There's something not right here, there's something fishy."

"Super-reenforced furnace," Mr_Banjo explained, "Tough as nails and Bruno destroys it in a matter of seconds!"

"I admit," Annahvi said nervously, "I didn't see any sign of foul play. STRONGEST MAN! IN THE WORLD!"

"Get stronger and challenge me again little man." the strongman laughed, but Mr_Banjo showed more sympathy. "You were unlucky, Dwarf. Stone and furnace is Bruno's speciality."

"This is fucking bullshit," Honeydew said, no longer yelling, "If you punch a furnace, it just disappears. But he obviously has cheated. Look," he pointed to the furnace which Strongman_Bruno had now picked up. "You can see the furnace. He picked it up!"

"Oh God," Xephos laughed, "I think you're onto them. Is this like a swiz? Is this some carnival trick?"

"Oh no no no," Mr_Banjo said, "You can trust me, Dwarf! I am trustworthy! Just look at me!"

"Like hell I can." Honeydew scoffed.

"Oh God," Xephos sighed, "Well at least- at least we didn't loose any money, can you imagine?" He looked down at the benches to see that Honeydew's armor had vanished. "Although your armor has gone from the floor."

"Woah!" Honeydew said, turning to the floor, "Where's my armor gone?"

"I don't know," Xephos said as he examined his inventory, "Oh God, these carny folk. They distracted us and stole all your armor."

"You lost," Mr_Banjo said, ignoring what Xephos had said, "But you are truly a worthy challenger. Just not strong enough!"

"You so weak." the strongman laughed, as Honeydew hung his head in shame. "How do you even lift you arms little man!"

"I have shammed all Dwarves everywhere."

"Don't be sad, friend," Mr_Banjo said in an attempt to help the Dwarf "No one can beat Bruno."

"Cheer up," Annahvi said, patting her friend's back, "It's not the end of the world..."

"We'll find a way to get back at them," Xephos said, "Don't worry. Knight_Peculier will know a way..."

"Strangers!" Madame_Nubescu spoke up, causing everyone to turn to her. "Dem spirits, dey be clear to be now. Jah friend, jah friend the knight!"

"Peculier?"

"He be in great peril!"

"WHAT?!" Honeydew shouted, snapping out of his disappointed state of mind.

"Oh God," Xephos said softly, "Maybe these guys _are_ evil. Maybe they've been, like, holding us up here deliberately, delaying us while Knight_Peculier's, like, waiting for us."

"This has been like a big distraction."

"Jah must go," Madame_Nubescu continued, "Jah must go to his aid!"

"Where is Verigan's Hold, madame?" Honeydew asked.

"Verigan's Hold?" repeated Mr_Banjo - who had removed his clown makeup and was now running around.

"Verigan's?" Madame_Nubescu said softly as she turned to the castle in the distance, "It be...It be dad castle over there."

"Oh..." Xephos said, chuckling slightly before running off with Annahvi and Honeydew.

"Thank you Madame_Nubescu!" Annahvi said as they ran off.

"It's over here," Mr_Banjo said as they ran past him,, motioning to a bridge. "You see there's a sign here!" Xephos and Annahvi looked to see that there was a sign on the side of the bridge which said 'To Verigan's Hold'.

"We are all about to clear directions at the Carnival del Banjo!" Mr_Banjo continued."

"Verigan's Hold!" Xephos shouted as they hurried up the bridge and to the castle.

"Jah be back," Madame_Nubescu called out, "Dem spirits be sure o' dat."

"Look," Honeydew said as he ran past a few signs which Annahvi and Xephos stopped to read, "Fuck the games. Fuck the games! We gotta go in this castle!"

"Okay," Xephos said as they headed up the staircase, "Let's go! Let's go!"

"We can't be distracted!" Honeydew said as they headed up to the castle in hopes of finding Knight_Peculier.


	16. Chapter 14

From a faraway glance, the Verigan's Hold looked like any other castle; strong stone walls with a few towers that reached to the skies. But as the three heroes got closer and closer, they saw that it was much more extravagant than they had first assumed. Stone - both smooth and cobblestone - appeared to go on for miles in both directions, the spires were shrouded by the clouds, and even though it was the middle of the night, torches decorated the floors and walls like flickering stars in the night sky.

Once the three of them were at the top of the stairs, standing in front of a pair of wooden doors, the three heroes noticed a sign planted in the small patch of dirt beside them.

_Verigan's Hold "Sand cannot dull my blade" - Verigan_

"That's a bit strange," Honeydew said softly as he read the sign. But both of his friends had already entered the stony fortress without him. The inside was just as grand as the perimeter, with a lovely fountain in the middle as well as plants growing all around. "Wow! This place is awesome!" as Xephos said this, he spotted a few signs which hung above the fountain and edged towards them.

_"Water blessed water! How it cools my sun-cracked skin!" 1st Templar Verigan Antioch after the Battle of Tulip_

As the Space Man was busy reading the signs, and the Elf was busy wandering about the outside, Honeydew quickly spotted a man through the windows to the inside; above his name was the ever so frequent white title. He was inside of a building parallel to the entrance, and above the two doors were a few signs.

_Verigan's Hold West Pinnacle Wall Bastion  
>Order of the Crimson Cross<em>

"There's a man here," he said, causing Annahvi to turn to him, as Xephos had already spotted the man, "A Templar..."

"Templar_A..dae...phon...?" Xephos read out as they watched the strange man

"Hello, strangers," the Templar greeted in an old yet hearty voice, "My nephew hoped you would come."

"Hello there!" Honeydew returned as he and his friends entered inside. To say that Templar_Adephon was old would be a gross understatement. His skin was wrinkled and tanned from years of laborious work under the beating sun. The red cross on his torso was now a faded red, and his clothes were and fit for a man of larger stature. His hair had receded, and his eyes practically caved into face. And yet despite his appearance, the Templar had an aura of strength and vitality.

"I am Adephon." he continued, "THere is no time to waste. Follow me to the battlements. This way."

His movement, much like his voice, defied his aged body, for he moved quickly to a set of stairs leading to higher ground. Of course, the three heroes simply looked at each other in confusion before looking back to the Templar.

"Let's just do what he says," Honeydew shrugged as they followed him up the stairs.

"He's obviously been waiting for us, hasn't he, this guy?" Xephos suggested.

"He was probably watching us thinking 'What are they doing pissing around down at the carnivale?'"

They continued to follow him until they were back outside on the opposite side of Verigan's Hold.

"More sand..." Honeydew said as he climbed over a large dune of sand, "Hm...Sand isn't a good sign. I don't like it."

By now, neither Xephos nor Annahvi were listening to their Dwarven friend. Instead, they had joined Templar_Adephon at the border of what could only be described as a wasteland. All they could see was an endless blanket of sand with the occasional cactus popping up from the grains, and monsters roaming about aimlessly.

"Holy shit..."

"You look awed..." the Templar explained, as Honeydew was quick to kill one of the wandering zombies, "But what you see before you is no ordinary desert."

"The only thing I see different is the enormous span," Annahvi said, straining her eyes beyond the horizon. To this, Templar_Adephon replied with a slight laugh before returning to a serious expression once more. "This sand...is a disease. A plague with terrible power."

Honeydew instantly flinched back and stood back on the cobblestone floor before looking at the Templar.

"Amazing..." Xephos sighed as he examined the endless sand.

"I wish you told that me before I bloody went and stood on it!" Honeydew shouted, but he simply laughed once more. Meanwhile, Annahvi and Xephos were busy gazing out into the distance, taking in the sights and trying to find an end to the desert.

"I'm not sure I can keep this up, guys, that's the problem," Honeydew said, causing his friends to turn to him and instantly burst out into laughter. Apparent their Dwarven friend was busy building a wooden pathway between himself and the sand. "How far have we got to go?"

"I don't think he means it literally," Xephos explained with a chuckle, "It's probably metaphorically."

"Short contact like this is no danger to you, a man as stout as you."

"I think he means Dwarf," he muttered softly, "Yeah, good effort there."

"This wall. If it was not for this wall, the sand would spread like wildvine. choking the land till it died gasping for life."

"So is why there was sand everywhere at the portal, do you think? Is it something to do with this sand?" Xephos asked.

"I can only assume so," the Elf shrugged, brushing some stray sand off of her emerald cloak.

Honeydew said as he followed along the cobblestone walls, "So the wall is stopping the spread of the sand, which is like a disease. There's a breach in the wall that Old_Peculier..." he stopped in mid sentence, replaying in his mind what he had just said and squinted his eyes as the rather large break in the walls, "Oh yeah, I think I can see him down there."

"Oh God," Xephos sad as he and Annahvi looked out to the broken wall.

"Your friend went to mend a breach in the wall." Templar_Adephon confirmed, "A serious breach that threatens our safety. If you wish to see him, turn left out the main gates and follow the wall."

"So we go back the way we came?"

"Uh...we go back out the main gates, yeah, I guess so head back downstairs, I guess."

"I recommend you see your friend before anything else." the Templar continued, "He might need your help."

"Right," Xephos said as they began to hurry off, "Let's go!"

"But before you go," he suddenly spoke up, "if you are unfamiliar with our history, you should check out the castle archives over here."

"Oh a history lesson," Honeydew muttered softly as they followed him, "Sounds...yeah..."

As they traveled across to the tower which contained the archives, Xephos stopped to look at the Skull Pass, which had a mirrored identity to the other face of the mountain.

"Oh God, there you go." he noted, "That's the Skull over there. Blimey."

"So there's a skull on both sides?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I guess so."

"Oh weird."

"The archives..." Templar_Adephon spoke out, breaking the heroes of their lighthearted conversation.

Xephos looked to the tower which had yet another sign above the entrance.

_Crimson Cross Archives Tower_

"What's in here?" he said to himself as they entered.

The Archives wasn't exactly full to the brim with books, but there was certainly a large quantity. Bookcases formed a large horseshoe shape , and along the inside was a large wall with some text inscribed along with a sign as the very beginning.

_The Tale of the Sands_

"I know this place inside and out," Templar_Adephon said as he began to walk away, "So I will leave you to go in there alone."

"Okay, Templar_Adephon." Annahvi said, as the man disappeared back to the lower level of the fort.

"Oh my God," Honeydew said as he entered the room and instantly saw the scripture. He instantly walked to the front of the writing and began to read aloud, following the words as he spoke.

_The Tale of the Sands_

_One hundred years ago there was a Summer that never ended. Raw heat parched the farmlands, and the wells ran dry. The people of Minecraftia began to die of hunger and thirst. Animals were blinded by blistering sand, blowing waist-deep across the land. Lead by a legendary hero, Verigan, the people of Minecraftia fought back and built The Wall to encase and halt the spread of The Desert. But a terrible ancient terror rose up from The Sands and threatened to destroy everything. Verigan Antioch and his son Karpath Antioch slew the evil monster and sealed it away under The Desert. In the final battle, Verigan was killed and Karpath gravely wounded. After recovery, Karpath founded The Crimson Cross and established the Templars in case the threat ever rose again. What happened next is still shrouded in mystery. Less than a month after his return, Karpath vanished without a trace and was never seen again. The Templars await his return._

_T. Adephon_

After reading the inscription, their Dwarven friend stepped away, his eyes constantly scanning over the words over and over again.

"So this guy wrote it;" he said, "This Templar."

"Yeah," Xephos said, "I guess so. I don't know how old he is then, in that case."

"If this happened over a hundred years ago," Honeydew continued, "Then he must be, like, a hundred-twenty years old, at the very least."

As he said this, the Dwarf quickly ran out of the archives , and then followed by Xephos.

The Elf stayed.

After Honeydew had finished reading _The Tale of the Sands_, she instantly turned to the books stacked as high as herself. Her fingers began to trail against the worn leather bindings, and her eyes scanned over every title and spine. Annahvi wasn't exactly known to be a genius, but she was certainly fond of books, and she hadn't gotten a chance at a good read since her time in Terrorvale.

She quickly plucked one of the books out of the shelves and began to scan through the pages and words. Gently closing the book and tucking it back in it's original place, she slipped another and did the same. Annahvi did this for quite a while, taking in as much knowledge as she could before going to the next volume or next topic. Soon, she had found herself in the middle of the room, surrounded by books of every size and age.

All of the books seemed to be rather vague, only glancing over a handful of topics before coming to a sudden end, and unfortunately she found nothing of any use to their current quest. Still, Annahvi was certain there must be _something_ that could help them fight Israphel. Just as she had opened yet another book, she heard the someone mudded sound of footsteps, and looked up to see Templar_Adephon looking down at her.

"You're friends have already left and headed for The Wall." he said. He didn't exactly sound made, but he was curious. Instantly, Annahvi looked around to see the massive pile of books which had accumulated beside her.

"O-Oh..." she said, scratching her head nervously, "Right..."

"Feel free to take any of these books on your journeys," he said before picking up one at the bottom of the pile, "I certainly think they well help you more than me."

Without another word, he walked off - putting the book away - and left Annahvi on the floor.

"What am I doing..." she grumbled to herself as she quickly scrambled to her feet, "We've got to stop Israphel and I'm busy on the floor with books." She instantly scooped up as many tomes as she could fit in her arms and began to place them on the shelves as best as she could remember.

As she tried to return all of the novels back to their proper place, her hands fumbled and the sounds of books hitting the floor echoed within the room. "Bugger!" she hissed, kneeling down to gather the scattered tomes. Yet just as she was about to stand up once again, she glanced at the bookcase in front of her, paused, and placed all of the books back on the floor.

Through the shadows and dim lighting inside the Archives, Annahvi could faintly see something in the back of the shelf; a small square-shaped obstruction. The Elf furrowed her brow in confusion before carefully pushing aside the other books and slowly reaching her hand into the shelf until her knuckles brushed against the object and pressed forward. Almost instantly there was a loud groaning sound and the floor began to rumble slightly, and it lasted for about a few moments before there was a rather loud thunk.

Instantly, Annahvi flinched back and landed onto the floor with a thud before she nervously scrambled to her feet and reached for her bow and arrows. She carefully moved to the other side of the bookshelf where the sound had originated, and after a bit she arched her eyes in confusion and shock.

Directly in the middle of the room was a large hole in the floor where stone had once been. It was rather small, just big enough for one person to fit, and as Annahvi edged closer, she saw that it went straight town into the darkness with one side plated with old rickety ladders. "H-Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing down into the darkness. Curiosity overwhelmed the young Elf and so she carefully tucked away her bow and rested her feet on the rungs and began to slowly decent into the unknown. As the light above began to slowly dim more and more, Annahvi began to feel a weight beginning to press against her chest and her hands began to shake with every climb downward.

What happened after was just a fast blur, there was the feeling of wooden rungs and then nothing. A loss of balance, and then suddenly Annahvi could feel the ladder underneath her give way and soon she was falling at an incredible pace. Her body hit the solid ground with a painful thud, and she could already feel a bump forming on her head, despite the fogginess of her mind. She looked up to see that a fair chunk of the ladder had completely fallen apart into nothing but a few scraps of wood - thankfully she hadn't fallen too far, only a few feet so. Finally, Annahvi sat up with a painful grunt and turned to see that there was a well lit tunnel right behind her. Seeing no other way out, she finally stood up and began to walk down the corridor which eventually lead to a pair of wooden doors which eventually opened with a stubborn groan.

Inside was a rather strange room, a very large, but still very smothering due to the large quantity of books and artifacts that adorned the walls and shelves that occupied every cubic inch. As Annahvi's boots treaded on the red carpet, she took note that the books here were much older than the ones in the archive, by several hundred year, no doubt.

But as she entered deeper into the hidden library, that was when she found the book.


	17. Chapter 15

It was placed in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by bookcases, with only a small trail of rug to travel by, and was preserved in a glass case atop a mahogany podium. Upon first glance, it looked just like any other book hidden way in the old room, but as Annahvi approached, she saw that it held an obvious significance. Even though it was _much_ older than all of the other books - judging by the generous layer of dust which had settled on the case. It looked very well preserved, as if it had never been opened in centuries for fear of disintegrating at the lightest touch. The torches that were placed on the walls exposed two straps - one on the top of the book and one on the side - which were fastened in place by metal locks. In the center was an enormous gem that glowed a faded purple hue, and gold and sliver was etched into the leather cover. There was no title, or any form of written words on the tome anywhere, making the Elf even _more_ curious of the contents that lied within the pages.

She was now only a few inches away from the glass case, and Annahvi was able to clearly see the top of the case was actually an opening with two rusted hinges and a dulled lock. She couldn't resist. Her hands pulled out a small knife and she began to fiddle with the glass case. It would've just been easier to break the lock or remove the hinges, but if Templar_Adephon were to find the destroyed case, it would have been all too awkward to explain. Then again, _someone _would eventually find her, and it would be awkward explaining how she had gotten trapped down there in the first place.

Her hands fiddled nervously as she constantly shifted her eyes between the lock and the book within. Annahvi had rarely ever broken any laws before, and if she did it was rarely on purpose or without rational means, but there was just something to intriguing about the book that lied inside. It was almost as if it was trying to reach out to her- beckoning her.

Finally, there was a click and the rusted lock fell to the carpet with a thud - success! Annahvi carefully trailed her fingers up the rim of the display until she rested her hands on the top and carefully opened the case. She slowly lowered her hands into the case and lifted the book out of its display and breathed softly in curiosity. No doubt that it held some sort of importance, or else it wouldn't be locked away. Who knows what secrets are confided within the pages?

"ANNAHVI!" a familiar called out "Are you down there? Hold on, I've got some ladders! I'll be right down!"

Well shit.

Meanwhile, Xephos and Honeydew were busy dealing with in their own problems. They were able to quickly find Knight_Peculier; he was busy on top of an old guard tower trying to repair an enormous breach in The Wall. Unfortunately, as the Space Man and Dwarf tried to approach their friend, and all too familiar face revealed himself beyond the damaged cobblestone barrier.

"Oh shit, I need to shoot back!" Xephos hissed as he hid behind the the small hill as a makeshift shield.

"I'm out of ammo!" Honeydew panicked as Xephos quickly snuck to the side and aimed a few arrows at the pale face man before ducking back down. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, he failed to hear the familiar hissing of a creeper, and only moments later there was a second hole in The Wall.

"Jesus Christ!" he groaned in frustration, pulling out his diamond sword as the Creeper_Boss and Zombie_Boss starred at him ominously. "They're coming through the wall behind - CAREFUL!"

His Dwarven friend could only yell in terror as he fled from Israphel's arrows, but the distraction only gave Xephos a few moments to turn around and see the Zombie_Boss approaching him, moaning with what appeared to be a makeshift spear. Thankfully, Xephos was quick enough to slay the foul monstrosity, it fell to the ground with a thud, leaving only the remains of his loot.

"There's a Creeper_Boss with TNT," Xephos informed the Dwarf, "and I just killed a Zombie, I think."

He peeked over the hill once more to see Israphel staring back and quickly the both of them begun to fire arrows through the sky.

"Bugger off!" he said as he wielded his diamond sword and started to charge down the hill and to Israphel, only to have an arrow graze his arm.

"Just kill something, anything!" Honeydew said as his friend quickly fell back behind their fence, catching his breath and eating some food.

"Jesus," he sighed, scoffing down a porkchop, "I need some food." It was only a few minutes longer before his breath began to steady and his hands gripped around the sword's handle once more.

"Let's go!" he said, hopping through the second hole in The Wall, with Honeydew not too far behind. The Creeper_Boss was finished with only two swings of his sword, and now Xephos was not in hot pursuit after Israphel.

"Die Israphel, you bastard!"

Unfortunately, he was able to swiftly dodge every swipe and quickly began to run even deeper into The Desert.

"Oh crap, where's he going?" Xephos mumbled. By now, the Dwarf was now front of him and charging towards the pale faced foe, but soon the two of them were quickly bombarded with arrows.

"Oh God!" Honeydew hissed as he quickly hid in a small crevasse made of sand before whining as he got hit by one of the arrows.

Xephos was so distracting by his friend that he hardly had any time to notice the rain of arrows which were flying directly towards him. Without warning, the Space Man was pulled by his collar onto the sand beneath him, and he fell behind a large hill of sand.

"Jesus Christ," a familiar voice chuckled, "I can't leave you two alone for five minutes, can I?"

He blinked a few times before looking up to see Annahvi trying to fire a few arrows at Israphel before advancing forward.

"God, where have you been?" Xephos groaned.

"Busy," she answered, making Xephos roll his eyes with a sigh.

Her arrows did little damage to Israphel and soon he was retreating even deeper into the scorched wasteland with the Elf following right behind.

"Wait," Xephos spoke up, grabbing her sleeve, "I don't think we're supposed to be chasing him."

"You're kidding me, right?" Annahvi scoffed, "I'm not just gonna let that son of a bitch get away!"

"I don't think it's wise,"

"Ow!" Honeydew said as he tended to his wounds, "No, I don't think it's wise either."

Annahvi starred back at the pale faced man for a few moments before sighing, "We could've taken him,"

"And then what?" Xephos said, almost motherly, "If you chased after him, you'd have been lost in The Desert with no way to get back." She was about to come back with a snide remark, but after a second closed her mouth. "Fine," she said as they returned to Knight_Peculier, a playful grin, "I'll let you have that one, but next time I'm not holding back."

Xephos chuckled at Annahvi before pausing to look up at the stone tower where their friend resided. "He's trapped in that flippin' tree with spi- oh it's not a tree, is it? It's like a...It's like a..."

"I think it's a guard tower," Honeydew suggested, "It's a lot like the one in Mistral City." By now, the three of them stood at what appeared to be the original entrance to the tower, and beside it was a sign which read "Crimson Cross 2nd West Arch Buttress Guard Tower" with only a few signs beside the wooden planks which blocked the entrance.

TOWER CONDEMNED NO ENTRY

BEWARE OF FALLING MASONRY

"It's quite noisy in here" Xephos said, hearing the moaning and hissing of enemies within the stone tower. "How do we get to him? What's the quickest way up? Do we have to go inside?"

"I assume it's the fastest way," Annahvi added as Xephos began to break through the wall with his pickaxe, only to see an enormous spider awaiting him on the other side, "My God, this is a mess." Xephos turned to her with an amused smirk, but then his expression changed. He had been meaning to ask her a question for a while now. "So have you been in the Archives this entire time?" he asked

"Well..." she laughed, a nervous smile spreading on her face, "Yes and no...I sorta accidentally opened up a secret room and Templar_Adephon had to get me out..."

He looked at her for a moment in disbelief before chuckling softly, "Only you...So did you find anything of use to us."

"Kind of," she shrugged, "Most of the books were fairly old, but some of them had _some_ information." By then, the three of them had broken into the tower and had destroyed two spawners which were inside the tower and had begun to climb upward.

"I can still hear spiders," Xephos warned as he broke through some wooden boards.

"Just ignore - Just ignore them." Honeydew said as they began to slice through vegetation which had grown over the years.

"We're coming, Knight_Peculier!"

As the Dwarf continued to hack away at the overgrown leaves and branches, Annahvi and Xephos had left the tower to examine the large breach in The Wall as well as the sand which was beginning to make its way in.

"This breach is pretty bad." Xephos muttered softly as they began to walk past The Wall. " Annahvi sighed, "How far do you think The Desert stretches?"

"I have no idea...Do you think it ever ends?"

"It has to, right?"

They just stood there for a while, staring off to the horizon as if the solution to their problems were hidden in the distance. However, it was only a few minutes later Xephos let out a deep sigh and turned back around to aid their friend, who had made little progress. "The stairs seem to have just, like, run out." Honeydew explained as they reached him.

"I guess just keep goin' round." Xephos shrugged as he chopped away at the last bit of plant life.

"Careful," Annahvi said bluntly, "Spider."

"Com'ere ya bastard!" Honeydew swore as he attempted to kill it, but instead simply knocked it off the tower, and Xephos quickly followed after it.

"Oh there he is!" Honeydew called out, snapping the Elf out of her doldrums, "I see him! There he is!"

Instantly, Annahvi and Xephos - who had just reached them - began to climb after their excited Dwarf and were relieved to see Knight_Peculier.

"Peculier!" Honeydew cheered.

"Heroes..." he said, with a weak groan, "It is good to see you!"

"Are you okay?"

"Why are you making zombie noises?"

"I was wounded by skeletons," he explained, "and took shelter in this abandoned tower..."

"Are these monsters gonna come back?" Xephos asked as he starred at the large gap, "Do you reckon what we're- we have to mend this breach somehow?"

"By night, all manner of horrors came flooding out of The Desert. We must mend The Wall, lest they return for another attack. Thankfully, the supporting buttress is undamaged."

"Okay then!" Honeydew said as he began to descend the stairs and to the enormous hole in The Wall. "So this is...This is where The Wall should be, where all the sand has poured through."

"I guess we'll just..." Xephos began, but then paused in confusion, "Do we - do we have to get rid of the sand? I suppose sand isn't the best building material."

"Have you got a shovel?" Honeydew asked, completely oblivious to the fact that his friend had already taken a spade and had begun to dig. He paused and began to rummage through his inventory.

"I've got one nearly bro- I've got a spare iron shovel, actually -here."

As the two of them began to mend the wall and remove the sand, Knight_Peculier had gone to the supply cabinet to more tools and stone, and Annahvi was busy trying to repair the smaller hole made by the Creeper_Boss.

"Hey, Lewis." Honeydew called out to his friend - who now stood beside Knight_Peculier. The moment the three of them turned to their Dwarven friend, he began to shovel away more and more sand, but once again began to sing an all-too-familiar song.

"I'm a Dwarf and I'm digging a hole! Diggy diggy Hole!"

"Brilliant," Annahvi chuckled to herself as she began to lay down some more cobblestone. But only moments later the sky began to turn a deep shade of blue and the last rays of sunlight were fading beyond the horizon.

"Shit." Honeydew cursed as he began to frantically remove more and more sand.

"They attack at night heroes!" Knight_Peculier called out, and for a moment Annahvi was completely clueless as to what he was talking about. But then she began to see familiar figures appearing beyond the sand.

"Simon," Xephos said, "They're back for another attack! Quick get on the wall! Defend! Annahvi, get over here."

"Okay!" she said, taking out her bow and arrows.

"Oh God!" Honeydew panicked, trying his best to fill up the enormous breach in The Wall.

"Do you have any arrows?" Xephos asked his Elven friend, to which she responded by handing him a full stack of ammunition. Of course, by this point the poor Dwarf amongst them was hysterical in an futile effort to seal off the oncoming monsters.

"It looks like we've got a little bit of time." Xephos said, but when he looked up from laying down the cobblestone, he saw that the Zombie_Boss had risen once more and was returning towards them. But instead of charging towards the heroes, it simply veered to the left and entered the smaller hole which Annahvi had not completely fixed, only to turn away in an attempt to avoid a skeletal archer which was attacking it.

"Maybe they're just leaving their minions here to deal with us."

"Israphel!" Annahvi yelled, startling her friends. They looked and could see his horrible face amongst the sand. Without any warning, she ran into The Desert and began to chase after the pale face enemy.

"Annahvi!" Xephos began to yell, only to get knocked off the sand hill by an approaching zombie.

He cursed under his breath and quickly stumbled to his feet before going into The Desert through the smaller break in the wall. He knew that if he didn't get her back soon, she'd probably get lost amongst the sand. "Dammit, Annahvi!"

Meanwhile, said Elf was busy try her best to chase after Israphel. At first it had been easy to follow behind him but with the oncoming darkness followed be nearby enemies, the game of cat-and-mouse became ever more frantic. Her feet digging into the sand and avoiding the occasional arrows and zombies was making it hard to concentrate on the fading target.

"You bastard!" she growled, reaching for another arrow. Soon, Annahvi had Israphel right in her line of fire and smiled victoriously. She quickly lined up her arrow and was just about to fire, but a sense of terror ran through her body when she heard an all to familiar hiss.

She hardly had enough time to turn around and see the mortifying face of a Creeper before it blew up and threw her against a sandstone wall where she fell to the ground; she turned her head to see Israphel in the distance. He looked to her and she couldn't be sure, but Annahvi was certain he had a smile on his face. With that, he ran off into the night, leaving the Elf lying in the sand. She swore under her breath before she began to close her eyes. And yet as she was beginning to fall asleep, she there was a faint voice that echoed in the back of her mind.

_"Wake up...Wake up, Annahvi...You need to wake up..."_

She moaned in protest, but she could still hear the voice echo through her mind, and eventually she managed to lift herself up from the ground and pick up her scattered belongings. Despite how sore her muscles were, she carried on.

When she saw Xephos, she practically collapsed in his arms before steadying herself against his shoulder.

"Jesus Christ," he scolded, "What were you thinking?!"

"Wasn't." she chuckled before looking up at him and seeing the concern in his face. "I'm just a little tired."

"I don't believe you," he said before picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

"Goddammit," she groaned blowing, "Let me go this instant!"

"One more word from you and I'm carrying you bridal style."

She didn't say anything else on the way back.

When they returned to The Wall, they saw that Honeydew and Knight_Peculier had decided that hiding out in the supply tower was the best idea, and in all honesty it probably was. The moment the two of them made it inside the tower, Knight_Peculier and Xephos began to quickly seal the entrance shut.

"Do I even want to know?" Honeydew asked.

"Not really." Annahvi groaned before Xephos finally set her down and she slouched herself against a nearby wall.

"While we rest up," Knight_Peculier suggested, "You should tell me what you discovered in the crumblings ruins."

As the Xephos and Honeydew continued to explain their findings to Knight_Peculier, Annahvi had squeezed herself between the stairs and wall and had taken out a book that was hidden in her cloak. She pulled out a small knife and began to fiddle with the first lock on the cover, hoping that she could finally read the contents inside. And yet she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about the entire ordeal, she didn't mean to bother Templar_Adephon with her accident in the Archives.

After a few more minutes, she heard a faint click and to her excitement the first leather strap was no longer held in place by the lock.

After some time later, Xephos had assumed that it was at least dawn, and as he removed a few of the wooden planks, he smiled to see the sky becoming a light shade of blue."It's daytime. Right, let's get some cobblestone out and fix the hole in The Wall over there, now that it's day."

He turned to see Honeydew and Knight_Peculier were already leaving the tower with their arms loaded with supplies, but when he saw Annahvi he almost laughed to see her fast asleep against the wall. He wasn't too surprised though, she'd had spent a fair amount of the day chasing after Israphel and laboring under the sun, which had left her usually creme skin a shade light of pink. He began to shake her shoulders and after a bit she slowly woke up, revealing a pair of tired bronze eyes. "C'mon," he chuckled, "We've got work to do."

She looked up at him, still half-asleep, before stretching her legs and getting up from the ground. He laughed as she tried her to pat down her brown back-length hair - apparently sleeping against the wall caused a horrible case of bead head. She threw him an amused glance before running a callused hand through her hair and joined her friends.

And yet as they approached The Wall, they were able to see white letters which spelled the names of their enemies.


	18. Chapter 16

"Oh God," Xephos groaned as he began to lay down more cobblestone, "They're resuming the offensive."

"Goddammit." Annahvi cursed as she reached for her bow and arrows.

"Seal off that side," he instructed Honeydew.

"Hold still, ya bastards..." Another arrow was aimed over the wall, but it barely grazed the Zombie_Boss's shoulder.

"Work faster, Dwarf!" Knight_Peculier urged as the monster edged closer and closer.

"Oh shit, son..." poor Honeydew panicked, "Why me?!"

In the midst of the panic, none of the heroes were able to notice the faint hissing sound of the Creeper_Boss until it was too late; an enormous chuck of The Wall had been yet again destroyed.

"Son of a..." Xephos cursed, as the explosions echoed through the air. He quickly hopped down from the area of The Wall he was repairing, and unsheathed his diamond sword from it's leather scabbard. Unfortunately, the Space Man was too busy examining the damage to The Wall to notice that the Zombie_Boss had crept through a breach in The Wall underneath him.

"Oh God," Xephos warned, "Oh God, they're sending in the Zombie_Boss behind you."

Annahvi was quickly to follow behind the monster alongside Xephos, who was screaming "Watch out!"

"Back, fiends!" Knight_Peculier cried as he and Honeydew attacked the oncoming enemy.

"We got him!" their Dwarven friend reassured, but the victory did not last long; they were soon bombarded with an onslaught of arrows.

"This is a pain in the ass!" Xephos swore as he ducked behind a hill. Honeydew was about to reply to his friend, but he was quickly interrupted by another arrow fired towards him.

"Goddammit, Israphel!" He cursed, building a wall of cobblestone between him and The Dessert, "Leave me alone!"

"I highly doubt that he'll comply with that request." Annahvi sighed as she fired her umpteenth arrow.

"We are _never_ gonna get this wall rebuilt at this rate." Xephos sighed as he returned to his pervious position.

"Go back to where you came, Hellspawn!" the knight cried.

"Do we have to drive them off?" Xephos asked Annahvi, who had now rejoined him to mend the enormous breach.

"It'll buy us some time," she answered, placing down more and more stone, but as she returned to her work, Xephos looked above and could just vaguely see Israphel's face before he disappeared behind the remaining wall. Xephos watched as the man's title traveled beyond The Wall and to a small opening, just big enough for someone to fit through. Xephos instantly began to block off the entrance, but yet again there was another explosion.

"Fuck you!" he screamed.

After a while, Israphel had once again retreated, leaving the four heroes to mend the wounds that he had left behind. Annahvi groaned in frustration as she began to remove more and more sand.

"The Wall needs to be thick," Knight_Peculier informed the three, "Lest it falls again."

Xephos peered over the unfinished fill in The Wall and in the distance he could see Israphel and his minions, retreating into the horizon. The two simply gazed at one another before an arrow suddenly flew past the air and just barely missed Xephos' face, leaving a small cut on the side.

"This is a real pain in the ass." he groaned, hiding behind the cobblestone. But as he retreated from Israphel's gaze, he realized that a fair amount of the breach in The Wall had been properly repaired. "We're nearly done," he said, placing down another layer of cobblestone, "This wall - they can't get in again, can they now? Then again we really don't have any arrows to stop them from just blowing it up again."

Annahvi gazed out into the horizon, or as best as she could, and watched as Israphel's name began to fade.

"Maybe we have to kill Israphel," Xephos said as he joined her and began laying down a final layer. "Is that what we're doing wrong? We have to go out there and, like, kill him?"

"I'd be happy to oblige," she chuckled, receiving a scold from her friends.

They continued to work, asking each other questions and trying to contemplate a way to destroy Israphel, but as they began to lay down the last few bricks for the day, they could hear the long and agonized moans of the Zombie_Boss. Instantly Xephos and Honeydew shared a nervous glance as Annahvi looked down to see the cadaver bashing against the wall.

"They taunt us..." Knight_Peculier informed as Xephos joined her to examine the minion. Unfortunately, he made the grave mistake of exposing himself over the wall, and as a result an arrow pierced his upper arm. The damage itself was not fatal, but unfortunately he was caught off guard. He stumbled backwards and began teetered on the edge of The Wall, glancing down at the height difference between him and the ground.

Annahvi endeavored to grab his hand and pull him back safely, but he had already slipped off the cobblestone and tumbled onto the ground by the time she reached out her hand. For a moment a sense of dread chilled her blood, but when she looked down she relaxed to see that he was conscious and breathing, but the sense of relief did not last long. She glared down to the Zombie_Boss with contempt, who was still clawing at The Wall and took out another arrow and began to draw back her bow, but then she paused for a moment and groaned in frustration; her friend needed help, killing would have to wait. She instantly dropped down from The Wall and onto a large hill of sand below and hurried to Xephos' aid.

"Jesus Christ," she sighed, examining his arm, "Goddamned son of a bitch...Well thankfully I don't think the arrow hit any vital points."

"Well that makes me feel better about having an arrow jammed into my arm."

"Just hold on," she groaned, taking his arm in one hand.

"Ow!" Xephos wined as she began to break off the wooden shaft with her knife, "Could you a little more gentile?"

"Would you rather I just leave it in there?" she replied, receiving at chuckle from Honeydew. "Don't say a single word."

"Can I have some pork, Peculier friend?" the Space Man asked, and of course his friend happily obliged. "There you go, hero."

"Thanks." he sighed, scoffing down the cooked meat. After a few more minutes of pain, the arrow was successfully removed a makeshift bandage was wrapped around the wound.

"Now we're even," she sighed, pulling Xephos to his feet.

"The signal tower must be re-lit." Knight_Peculier, looking up at a large searchlight atop The Wall, "That will drive them back. Do you mind, Dwarf?"

"I guess that's what the ladder's for," Xephos said as he looked up to the tower, "and I'm using them on the wrong side of The Wall."

No sooner had he said that when a faint hissing sound began to sound, and soon enough enormous spider leapt up and attacked him.

"Oh shit!" he cursed, before taking his diamond sword and killing the large arachnid but the moment it was dead, two more took its place. "What the Christ?!" he said, fleeing from the seemingly endless cluster.

"Are you alright?" Honeydew asked as Knight_Peculier exterminated the onslaught.

"No! There's spiders attacking like mad! They're coming out of somewhere." And his eyes fell upon an old wooden shed where they appeared to be originating from. "Do you reckon this old building here has got, like, a spider spawner or some shit? I don't have enough health to deal with this." He said as he jumped onto the shed to see a small opening in the stone path from which the spiders were coming from. "Oh God they're all comin' out of thus tunnel!"

"Christ!" Honeydew breathed as Xephos ran away from a chasing spider. As he quickly sought sanctuary in the supply tower, Honeydew, Annahvi and Knight_Peculier were busy fighting off the endless foes within the tunnel.

"Do not go in this hut," Knight_Peculier ordered as he sealed off the entrance. The Dwarf and Elf managed to push back the oncoming spiders just long enough for their friend to place the final block of cobblestone brick down, sealing the monsters away. They sighed in relief, but after a few moments, the familiar moaning of the Zombie_Boss could be heard beyond The Wall.

"Son of a bitch..." Annahvi sighed.

"Just ignore 'im," Honeydew instructed before she could waste any more arrows. She looked at him in defiance, but after a bit of thinking, sighed in defeat. "Fine..." she grumbled begrudgingly.

They made their way back to the supply tower where Xephos had barricaded himself away, save for a gap large enough for the heroes to see each other through.

"Shave-and-a-haircut..." Annahvi joked as she knocked on the side of the tower.

"Fuck you, I'm dying!" he swore as he picked away at cobblestone blockade. Honeydew let out a proper laugh, almost a high pitched giggle, as he handed the Space Man a few porkchops.

"Look Simon, Annahvi," he said, going to the chests inside the tower, "One of us is going to have to relight the signal fire. There's some coal in here - ah no, there's a flint and tinder in here and there's some ladders - I've got some ladders. Shall I - Shall I try and do it?"

"Absolutely not!" Annahvi said, snatching the flint and tinder from his hands, "So far today you've gotten shot in the arm, fell of The Wall, and mauled by spiders! You're going to get yourself killed going up that tower!"

"This coming from the woman who almost got herself blown up." he chuckled smugly, but she stubbornly refused to give back the flint and tinder.

"Look, fuck it!" Honeydew sighed, interrupting the quarreling two, "You can _both_ light the damned fire."

Xephos just happily shrugged while the Elf just sighed in frustration.

"If he shoots me off the top of The Wall I'm going to be, like, in serious trouble." he sighed as they began scaling the top of The Wall.

"And then I say 'I told you so!'" Annahvi replied, clutching firmly onto the hard rock and steel band. The wind blew harshly as they ascended their climb, but soon enough they were at the very top of The Wall and were right beside the signal tower.

"Okay," Xephos yelled to Honeydew, "We're in the signal tower."

But as they reached the very top of the tower, they were confused with what they saw. I appeared as through the glass dome had been shattered, leaving only a few remains, and there was nothing to light on fire.

"Uh, I think there's probably supposed to be something up here, like a bit of wood or something," Xephos said, examining the small space around them, "God, I'm a bit scared."

As her friend began to rummage through his inventory, Annahvi gazed out to a nearby signal tower, almost identical to the one they were standing on, and examined the fire that was burning. The entire thing was encased in glass, preventing the fire from spreading to the wooden roof above.

"Um, if I just light a block of wood on fire, will that do the job?"

"That could work," Annahvi shrugged, "Or it could set us on fire,

"There's glass above us so I don't think it'll set fire to the rest it,"

"If you say so, but don't say I didn't warn you." With that, she handed Xephos the flint and tinder, and it was only a matter of seconds before the log of wood was set ablaze. Xephos smiled confidently as he began to climb down the ladder, but as he looked up he saw the the roof of the tower was now beginning to burn aw well.

"I _may_ have set fire to the tower." he called out nervously for all three of his friends to hear.

"I _fucking_ told you!" Annahvi sword as they could hear Honeydew panic below.

"Okay, _don't_ worry! It's okay!"

"It's not fucking okay!" she yelled back at him as the fire began to spread.

"Look, just come down from there and we can get off The Wall." He looked at her nervously as she still stood steadfast, as if her feet were nailed to the cobblestone.

"Annahvi!" he said, somewhat louder than before, "Get down from there!"

And yet she remained in place, and for a moment Xephos thought he saw something in her eyes, a glaze that reflected the flickering flames. But it disappeared in an instant and soon Annahvi had quickly jumped down from the tower and onto The Wall beside Xephos. They quickly hurried down the ladders, and all the while the Space Man was constantly swearing.

"The signal tower doesn't need to be that bright..." the Knight said as he looked up at the now burning roof. "Will that drive them away now?" Xephos asked, "It better!"

"Well it's nighttime," Honeydew said as he watching the retreating sun, "so let's bloody hope so."

And at that moment, a hissing echoed right behind the Space Man and Elf, and before either of them could even turn, an explosion knocked the two to the ground.

"Ah shit," Annahvi chuckled as she picked herself up from the ground and cracked her back, "Two nights in a row." And yet as they regained their bearings, they could faintly see Israphel's title beyond The Wall. "Maybe we should get up onto The Wall and just, like, swear at him, since they're forced to retreat," Xephos suggested with a chuckle.

"I'll pass." she said bluntly, and yet, Xephos began to place down more ladders and once more scaled to the top of The Wall, quickly followed by Honeydew and Knight_Peculier. "These bastard's going to get themselves killed one of these days," she chuckled as the quickly scurried up the top.

They watched in satisfaction as they watched Israphel disappear into The Desert with his minions close behind. And as the sun's rays began to slowly fade, the four heroes knew that now was the best time if any to continue repairing The Wall.

"Sorry about the fire, Peculier, pal." Xephos said nervously as he gazed at the still burning roof. The Knight simply nodded his head in forgiveness before continuing with laying down more and more cobblestone.

The four of them continued into the night, laying down more and more cobblestone, occasionally making quick trips back and forth between the supply tower for more materials,and there were very few injuries other than Honeydew falling off The Wall once. There was little talk amongst them, only Honeydew and Xephos having idle conversation, and a few breaks between the laborious task, but eventually they had successfully built themselves to the very top of The Wall, and Xephos placed the very last brick down, ensuring a steadfast defense.

"As good as new!" he sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Minecraftia is safe...for now." Knight_Peculier declared, receiving a loud cheer from their Dwarven friend. And yet as they celebrated together in their success, Honeydew glanced over and could see Annahvi amongst the scattered torches, staring up the burning tower.

"Thinking about Mistral City?" he asked, and she nodded; she didn't feel like talking.

"About the Yogcave?" Another nod.

"...It's not fair, is it?" She shook her head this time.

The Dwarf and Elf simply stood there, watching the fire; they stood there for a while, until Knight_Peculier spoke up, "We should head back to Adephon. He will know about this map." And as he and Xephos began to walk off, Honeydew and Annahvi quickly followed behind. She spared one last glance at the tower, her mind beginning to travel back in time, but when she saw Honeydew smiling at her sympathetically, she laughed softly and rejoined her friends.

By the time they reached Templar_Adephon, the sun had broke through the night sky and light began to bathe the land.

"Welcome back," the Templar greeted, "I am glad you still live. Is the brech mended?"

"The world is saved!" Xephos nobly declared.

"Saved your nephew, Peculier," Honeydew explained briefly, "And the world...No big deal. Any reward you have would be cool."

"Hello, uncle!" Knight_Peculier interrupted as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Greetings, nephew," he smiled warmly, "Bold Knight_Peculier, Do you feel it?"

"I do. The evil presence under the desert."

"Ahh. I thought so. Then it is as I feared?" The three heroes looked at each other nervously.

"How will we seal away this ancient evil like Karpath did?"

"I wish I knew." Templar_Adephon said, his voice filled with despair, "Without the map, we are lost..."

"But fortunately, we have three heroes with us," Knight_Peculier said, rummaging through his pockets, until he pulled out the scrap of paper they found from Reverend_John "They seem to hold onto a lot of stuff."

"That we do," Xephos laughed, in a mix between pride and embarrassment. Templar_Adephon took the scrap of paper from his nephew and squinted his eyes as he tried to make sense of it. After a few minutes, his expression changed entirely.

"This is...Yes!" he cried, "This is the map...well, part of it. This is barely a quarter, where is the rest? Where did you find it?"

"These heroes saved it from the clutches of the Cult of Israphel," Knight_Peculier explained.

"This is Karpath's map..." the Templar continued, "It's written in a strange code, but it shows the way. The way through The Desert. Perhaps we have some hope after all...But we must find the other three parts of the map!"

"Where do we begin?" Knight_Peculier urged.

"I'm afraid I do not know. I thought it was lost forever. You will need to ask those older and wiser than me."

"Who is that old?" the Knight asked for the other three heroes, before looked at his uncle nervously, "And uh...wise?" he added.

"Well, hmm..." As Templar_Adephon began to go through several names none of the heroes knew of, the Space Man, Dwarf, and Elf began to think of different people.

"Madame_Nubescu perhaps?" Annahvi suggested.

"No," Honeydew said, "She _sounds_ a-thousand years old, but she's probably, like, in her late thirties."

"Fumblemore?" Xephos suggested aloud, and instantly Templar_Adephon turned to him as he had told a joke.

"Fumblemore!?" he chuckled in disbelief, "That mad idiot Fumblemore would be absolutely no help. His brain is softer than jelly."

"That's a bit strong..."

"That mad idiot saved Peculier's life!" Honeydew informed.

Upon hearing this, the old Templar began to judge their opinion, "Perhaps he has regained some of his sense then. I apologize. You need to find someone in tune with the magical power of the map."

"Fumblemore would be in tune with the magical power of the map." Xephos said, "No probs."

"Well ya think so," Honeydew added, "I mean this map thing is all a bit fucking mental, if you ask me, so this probably suits him down to the ground."

Instantly Xephos and Annahvi burst out into laughter, but after a bit, they quickly regained composure and turned back to Templar_Adephon.

"Perhaps...I wish you luck, heroes. The fate of Minecraftia lies in your hands."

"No big deal then." Honeydew joked.

"Thank you, Uncle." Knight_Peculier said as he bowed his head.

"You make me proud, nephew."

"I do my best to live up to my father's name."

With that, Xephos, Honeydew, and Knight_Peculier left the building and began to leave Verigan's Hold, but as Annahvi began to join them she heard Templar_Adephon call out once more.

"Annahvi," he warned, "Remember what I told you before. You mustn't let your curiosity blind your judgement. The consequences could be grave."

The Elf tried her best to smile and she tightly gripped the book from behind her cloak, and as he smiled back at her, she quickly left.

"Where are we going?" Xephos asked Honeydew as they left, "Where do we go?"

Although the Dwarf made no attempt to stop walking, he responded to his friends boldly, not even sparing a glance.

"Lewis, we're going to save the world."


	19. Chapter 17

Annahvi propped herself against the stone walls of the Archives as the four of them stood atop the roof of Verigan's Hold, looking over The Desert and Carnivale del Banjo. She watched as her friends were busy amongst themselves with the fragmented map, before taking out the book from the Archives, still locked by a single leather strap. The faded amethyst stone gleamed in the sunlight, creating a lovely shine that entranced the young Elf.

"I have unfinished business," Knight_Peculier said to the three of them, "I must leave you again, heroes."

Instantly Xephos and Honeydew looked at each other nervously before turning to him.

"I have also a place for you to recover after failed battles. I call it a 'Check-Point'. You can fine it outside the castle, but enough drabble! You must find the map! Then you must return here, and speak with Adaephon!"

"Okay!" Xephos urged, "Well let's go, shall we?"

"Okay." Honeydew said, indifferently.

"Let's get out of here." And yet as they began to leave the rooftop, Xephos turned to see Annahvi still leaning against the walls, trying to pick the second lock on the book.

"Annahvi!" he called out; she instantly raised her head, "We need to get going!"

"R-Right!" she said, putting away both the book and knife.

"Still busy trying to get that book open?" he chuckled.

"Yeah..." she groaned, "The keys to the locks had rusted away, so all I can do it try to pick the lock."

"The fate of the world rests on you heroes," Templar_Adaephon said as they left the fort, "Good luck."

"Thank you, Templar_Adaephon," Annahvi replied as they reached a large yellow flag with a large red 'C'.

"No pressure then," Honeydew joked as they examined the chest beside the Check-Point, "No pressure."

"This chest might get blown up by a Creeper," Xephos suggested, "It's a little bit out in the open, isn't it?"

"It is..." Honeydew agreed.

"Let's not - Let's not out anything valuable in there. Let's hold onto the valuable stuff. And if you go near any lava, be _very_ careful. I know we've said this before, but you're currently holding the Holy Record as well, aren't you?"

"Of course, the Church of the Holy Record."

So they actually managed to get the record, Annahvi thought to herself as she drummed her fingers agains the leather binding of the book.

"I actually used all of our iron blocks, um, to make some armor." Xephos said as he placed on a full set, "I made some for you as well, it's in here."

Honeydew and Annahvi opened the chest to see that there was only full set of armor, and so the two of them looked at each other for a moment.

"You can have the armor," Annahvi said, almost arrogantly, "I don't need it."

"Okay..." Honeydew said uncertainly.

"So what are we going to do?" Xephos said as their Dwarven friend began placing on the armor, "Are we gonna go...Are we gonna and find Nubescu, I guess, and ask her if she knows anything about the map."

"Yeah," Honeydew agreed, "Seeing as how Fumblemore isn't there...We're surrounded by people who know these things, so...well, we _hope_ they know about them."

By the time Honeydew had finished his rambling, they had reached Madame_Nubescu, who looked at them with concern.

"Hello friends, I sense you are troubled..."

"We are!" Xephos confirmed, before wandering off to look around the carnivale, which was beginning to be packed away.

"Do you know anything about carography?" Honeydew asked, receiving a confused glance from Madame_Nubescu, and a chuckle from Annahvi. "He means cartography."

"Carography is something completely different," Xephos chuckled as he rejoined his friends.

"It's, um, the study of carrots, or something."

"I...could have a go." Madame_Nubescu answered, somewhat reluctantly.

As Honeydew and Madame_Nubescu began to go over the map, and Xephos had once again wandered off, Annahvi looked amongst the carnivale before sitting on the cobblestone stairs and once again taking out the book and inserting the pointed tip of the knife.

"Do you know anything of the magical map of Karpath?"

"Let's look at dat."

Meanwhile, Xephos had wandered to Strongman_Bruno's airship and packed up supplies. He had a good chuckle for himself when he read the labels on the boxes, before wandering up to the ship.

"Dis be evil..." Madame_Nubescu said ominously as she examine the piece of paper, "Ja be sure ja wanting me to tell ya where it leads?"

"Yes! Yes I am sure!" Honeydew nodded eagerly as Xephos once again rejoined his friends.

"Den it will be costin ya. Four gold pieces!"

"Augh! Not again!" Honeydew groaned in frustration.

"We must know so that we can be killing the evil under the sands!"

The Space Man and Dwarf looked at each other nervously as they ran back to the chest at the Check-Point, leaving Annahvi to her book.

"What ja be doin' dere?" Madame_Nubescu asked as she approached the Elf. She looked up at the Madame before once again turning her attention to the tiny keyhole on the bottom of the cursed padlock.

"I'm trying to pick this lock." she answered.

And yet, before either of them could say anything else, Xephos and Honeydew returned and handed Madame_Nubescu four golden ingots.

"Now den..." the she said" Let us begin..."

The two men waited in silence as they watched her, and a sense of horror overcame them as they watched her fall into a trance. Her body began to twitch involuntarily, but soon she remained still and furrowed her brow in frustration.

"It be no good. Decipher dis I cannot." she handed back Honeydew the map fragment, when Xephos spoke up. "Do we get our money back?"

"No."

"WHAT?! ARGH!" Honeydew shouted.

"These Goddamned carny folk!" Xephos yelled to the skies, "They are no help whatso- they have helped us in _no_ way ever!"

"Dere be one man..." Madame_Nubescu interrupted, causing Xephos and Honeydew to stop their rage. "A druid of the ancient world. He be knowin' about maps and ting."

"Were can we find this druid?"

"I feel him near...Him be da brother of dad fool Fumblemore. Perhaps you be checking in da burned city."

Annahvi froze as she listened closely, no longer interested in picking the lock.

"Well that's useful," Honeydew said, calmed down from the loss of gold. "Thank you kind lady, we shall check on this man. What is he called?"

"I cannot see." she answered.

"Great."

"Well, let's just go," Xephos said as he headed for The Skull, "We'll figure it out, we'll be okay. Thanks!" And with that, Xephos and Honeydew had run off, leaving Annahvi to quickly catch up with her friends.

"Tell your friends about me!" Madame_Nubescu called out as they headed up the stairs below The Skull.

They obviously had to return to Mistral City, but the very thought of it made the Annahvi shiver. What remained of the fallen city? Was anyone still there? How many survived the fire? Questions became a jumbled cloud inside her mind, and she was so busy with her own thoughts she practically walked right into Xephos.

"Ooh, careful." he said, looking at his friend.

By then, the three of them had reached the other Skull and now stood at the top of the stairs. They looked to where Mistral City once stood, and as they suspected, the fires had died long ago. In its stead, there was a rather large floating island surrounded by enormous trees.

"It doesn't seem to be on fire." Honeydew noted as Xephos reached the bottom of the stairs.

"There's a lot more tree covers than I remember," he added, "Do you remember it having that many trees there before?"

"Well it did have some - some nice, leafy sort of, um, avenues." But as they reached the back road, Honeydew stopped talking. A large portion of the backroad had been removed, and what remained had now been covered in moss.

"It's getting dark, and this looks rather mossy." Xephos said as the sun once again began to lower. "Do you think we should be venturing into the ruins of Mistral City at night?"

As Xephos and Honeydew marched forward into the night, Annahvi could only stare at the remains of Mistral City. The cobblestone streets and buildings had become overrun with moss, and what wasn't covered was completely gone. That accompanied with the lack of people created a grim loneliness that caused Annahvi to shiver as she silently tread through the streets. By now, the moon had risen into the sky, shrouding the city in darkness, only illuminated by a few of the remaining fires.

Hearing the approaching monsters, Annahvi quickly hurried down the street, only to run right into Xephos once more. A full on collision that set the two of them falling onto the ground.

"Get out!" a voice called, "My forest!"

After a few minutes of calming down from any dizziness, the Elf looked up to see a strange man, but _certainly_ a relation of Fumblemore. He wore a green rope with a yellow sash, and had white hair and a complexion similar to the crazed wizard. This man had a few stay leaves in his hair and he had a tangled beard that hadn't been groomed in ages, and above his head was his title, Swampy_Bogbeard; a fitting name. Of course, because Annahvi was so busy examining the strange man, she took little note that he was running straight for them.

"Wait!" Xephos said as he hid behind her, "We need your help!"

She watched as the stranger relaxed his tensed body, and loosened his grip on a wooden staff in his hands. He looked between Honeydew, Xephos, and Annahvi before finally resting his gaze at her with crazy eyes before pointing the staff right at her. "Uh..." she greeted with a nervous smile, "H-Hello..."

"Your friends wear iron!" he said after some time, in a somewhat slurred voice "You defile the earth for it's resources!"

"We are friends of Fumblemore, your beloved brother!" Xephos spoke up, finally standing up from behind the confused Elf. "We need your help with an evil map which we got from the Cult of Israphel!"

"Fumblemore eh?" he said sarcastically, swinging the staff to and fro, "What did that fool do this time?"

"Ah-"

"RUINED THE LAND," he screamed, interrupting the somewhat less confused Elf, "RUINED IT!"

"Fumblemore didn't burn down Mistral," Honeydew said, "it was...erm...Lysander."

Annahvi tightened her fist for a moment and looked at the Dwarf with a somewhat irritated glare.

"Possibly" he added, sensing her gaze, "and the Cult of Israphel! Baddies, basically." he raised his voice as is talking to someone who didn't speak English, "We are the good guys!"

"It doesn't matter!" Swampy_Bogbeard yelled as Xephos and Honeydew quickly subdued an attacking zombie, "IT'S RUINED!" He then threw down a porkchop, and the moment it landed on the ground it formed a pig. The three heroes looked in amazement, before once again looking back up to the man.

"What's ruined?" Annahvi asked, standing up, "The land? The land will repair itself over time."

_BOOM!_

Honeydew yelled as the explosion pushed back him and Xephos, leaving a decent crater.

"Creepers!" he continued, "RUINED THE LAND!"

"Can you talk somewhere safer?" Honeydew panicked as he shoved the piece of paper into Swampy_Bogbeard's hands, "Here is a map!"

"Skeleton, three-o'-clock!" Xephos warned as he gripped his diamond sword. A small horde of skeletons quickly approached the four of them, but soon they were reduced to a pile of bones.

Then Swampy_Bogbeard looked to them once more with a look of triumph. "The earth is as safe-" he paused for a moment examining the map, and his face paled. "What is this...Where did you find it?"

"We got it from the Cult of Israphel." Annahvi answered, before adding, "They hate nature!"

And so, the three heroes spent most of the remaining night explaining to Swampy_Bogbeard all about their quest to save Minecraftia. From meeting Skylord_Lysander, to fixing the breach in The Wall. By the time they had finished, the sky was beginning to light up.

"Israphel's cultists?" he said, piecing the entire story together, "They burned this place...And had the map..."

"That's right!" Xephos and Honeydew said.

"I thought it was my careless brother...Maybe I am the fool."

"You're not the fool," Annahvi said, giving the old man a strong pat on the back, "You're just old and senile."

"Nonetheless," he said, "You must meet me on the platform above..." He then motioned to the large floating island covered with trees, before looking back to the heroes.

"Don't defile the land," he instructed, before handing them saplings and bonemeal, "Use these."

Honeydew took the two materials before looking up at the platform in confusion, but before he could say anything, Swampy_Bogbeard had once again spoke, "See you up there..." and with that, he began to slowly levitate in the air until he was actually flying up to the floating island, and disappeared behind the land.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Honeydew screamed, knocking Annahvi and Xephos away. "WHAT?! WHAT?! How did he..."

"He's Fumblemore's brother," Annahvi answered, sitting on the mossy cobblestone floor, "I suppose wizardry run in the family."

"God, I wish I could do that..." Honeydew said.

"So he said 'Don't defile the land, use these'?" Xephos repeated, "And then he just flew off into the air." They looked back to where the strange man had vanished.

"Swampy awaaaaaay!"

The three of them to burst out into laughter.

"So I think we have to build our way up there..." Xephos said as he walked off to kill a nearby Creeper, "Make a tree-ladder."

Of course, while all of this was happening, Annahvi was once again caught up in trying to unlock the leather strap from the cover of the book, jiggling her small knife back and forth. She turned to her friends to watch them try and slay the green monster, a light chuckle escaping her lips, but instantly all of that was forgotten when a tiny click echoed through the Elf's ears, and the leather strap finally sprung off of the book, and the padlock fell to the ground with a clank. She had finally freed the book. Annahvi couldn't help but smile and laugh in amazement, no doubt receiving a few strange glances from Xephos and Honeydew, but it didn't matter. She happily took the leather cover and turned to the first page.

When Xephos had heard his friend laughing, he had feared that something had happened, but when he finally reached Annahvi, he chuckled in amusement. She had fallen asleep on the book, a small smile on her lips. Well at least she finally got that book open, he thought to himself before returning to his Dwarven friend to slay the Creeper which was chasing him.


	20. Chapter 18

When Annahvi finally opened her eyes, the world around was nothing but a watercolor of murky green, gray and browns. She rubbed her head, but instantly pulled back at the tremor of pain which waved over her. Had she hit her head or was it something she ate?

"Careful now," someone said instructed, "You've just woken up,"

She felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, causing a shiver to roll down her spine. The Elf slowly opened her eyes and looked to the hand on her shoulder. It was a very strange hand - tiny and feminine, but skin that was more closely related to a glossy black ink. She followed the hand up to an arm and soon her eyes rested upon a face, covered in the same black, with two huge eyes that glowed an eerie purple, and hair that appeared to move as if it was underwater.

Annahvi expected to see Xephos, or Honeydew, or even that Swampy_Bogbeard. So of course when she saw this strange shadow, she did the most rational thing possible: she screamed bloody murder.

"Calm down," the shadow said, in a echoed voice of a small child, "I'm not going to hurt you."

She looked up at the shadow skeptically before looking at the shadow up and down once more. She appeared friendly enough; the only other strange thing about her was her lower body which appeared to disperse like oil in water, and besides, Annahvi had seen creatures just a strange as a talking floating shadow.

"What happened?" she asked, trying to stand up properly, only to have her legs buckle under her weight.

"You're on the Spirit Plane."

"The what?"

"The Spirit Plane," the shadow explained, helping Annahvi to her feet, "It's a state of mind only accessible in your subconscious."

"Like a...alucid dream?"

"In a manner of speaking. What is your name?"

"...Um, A-Annahvi," she said, "Who are you?"

The shadow looked at her for a moment, obviously in deep thought before finally replying.

"You can call me Isis. It's nice to meet you."

"Isis..." the Elf repeated as she shook her hand.

Finally able to rest her feet firmly on the ground, Annahvi was finally able to see the world around her. It appeared to simply be a forest in the mountains.

"Where are exactly?" she asked, before adding, "I mean, on the Spirit Plane?"

"That is a question that you will answer yourself," Isis said as she wandered around the forest, her body floating over the land, "Do you recognize any this place?"

She swept her eyes across the forest, completely clueless. It appeared to be just an ordinary forest. But as her eyes began to drift further towards the horizon, her eyes widened in shock. Out in the distance was a large mountain, but beside it was an enormous tree that reached the clouds, and out of the mountain appeared to be a large tower.

"I now what this place is!" she laughed excitedly, "This was my old home, the Yogcave!"

She began to run deeper into the forest, weaving in and out of the path of trees, with Isis quickly following behind.

Soon they reached the entrance to Yogcave, and the two of them stood before the large tree that resided in front of the doors to Annahvi's old home.

"How is this possible?" she said, placing her hand on the tree, almost afraid it would disappear in the blink of an eye.

"Do you remember that book?" Isis spoke up, "By now you've probably realized that the book hold vital information for many people."

"I could've guessed from the locks and secret room." Annahvi chuckled, but instantly stopped laughing when she saw Isis. despite the lack of facial features, it was obvious that her new friend was rather serious about this strange tome. She put her hands together, and as she slowly pulled them apart, particles began to slowly gather together until an objects was formed in her hands; the book.

"This book has great power," Isis continued, placing it in the Elf's hands, "It was created millenniums ago, when the world was still young, in hopes of creating a perfect world. When in one's possession, it grants the ability to create, to change, to destroy."

"All through this book?" Annahvi said skeptically, running her fingers along the cover, "I find that a little hard to grasp."

"Mind you, the book does contain some power itself," Isis continued, "But it is also a guide as to control the world around us. No doubt in your travels, you've met people who can perform abnormal feats of 'magic'?"

"Well yes," she admitted reluctantly, her thoughts instantly wandering to Fumblemore and his brother, even Madame_Nubescu.

"They are not gifted with special skills," Isis continued, putting a slight emphasis on the word 'gifted', "They have simply learned to strengthen their bonds to the Spirit Plane and energies around us."

"Energies?" she asked, "You're making my head spin..."

The shadow turned back to Annahvi her face now more relaxed, before turning to the floor and picking up a small pebble, just as thick as her little finger.

"Despite how small this rock may seem, it contains at least traces of energy just like everything in the world - even you and me. I myself am made of pure energy; I have made my bond to the Spirit Plane so strong that I no longer live in the physical world."

"Is the same thing going to happen to me?!" Annahvi panicked her face now filled with anxiety, "How am I supposed to leave?"

"Do not worry," Isis said, "I will help guide you back and forth between the Spirit Plane and physical world. For now though, it would be to your benefit to listen."

"Okay..."

"As I was saying, everything in the world contains energy, no matter how insignificant. Just by possessing that book, you strengthened your abilities. Soon you will be able to give life to what was once dead, and make the world shape to your will."

Annahvi didn't say anything else, she simply stared back and forth between Isis and the book in her hands. Then her eyes rested back on the Yogcave.

"Why did I wake up here?" she asked, opening the door and reluctantly stepping inside.

"This 'Yogcave' is a place that held great value to you," Isis explained, "It was your home, so there were several emotions and memories made. A location for you to start training your mind on the subconscious level."

"I see..." Annahvi said, running her fingers against the walls. She examined the cave and shuddered at the emptiness that surrounded her. She wished that Xephos and Honeydew were here.

"Um...Isis?"

"Yes?"

"I'd um...I'd like to leave now." She expected her new friend to be angry or offended, but instead Isis simply smiled, at least it appeared that way.

"I understand." she said, "This is all very foreign to you - it always is for newcomers. I'll guide you back to the physical world, but before that..." She looked down in the palm of her hand and closed her fist around the small pebble. Moments later, she uncurled her fingers and revealed a silver ring with a stone which was the same purple as Isis's eyes and the stone in the book. "Take this with you, it will allow you to contact me even if you don't have the book with you."

"Thank you..." Annahvi said, as the ring was dropped into her hands, but then she looked back at the book in her right hand and turned back to Isis. "By the way, does this book have a name?"

"No," Isis responded bluntly, "A name is a form of identification, and this book does not have nor does it need an identity."

They looked at each other once more before the world around them began to slowly fade away. The shadow smiled one last time to the Elf before saying one thing, her voice slowly diminishing with the world around them.

"...You had best wake up now..."

"Annahvi..." Xephos said, rocking her shoulders back and forth, "Come on, you have to wake up now."

He watched as she mumbled something incoherent before finally opening her eyes and slowly pushing Xephos away.

"I'm up...I'm up..." she grumbled.

"God," Xephos chuckled, "I thought I'd never get you to wake up."

Annahvi smirked and rolled her eyes, but when she looked up to her Dwarven friend she was shocked to see that he was already atop the floating island, and leading up was a large tower of trees stacked upon one another.

"Did you guys already build the tree ladder without me?" she pouted jokingly, "You guys always get to have all the fun."

"Well next time you can solve the puzzle and I can take a nap." He chuckled and pulled her to her feet, "Come on, Simon's waiting for us at the top. I'll see you there."

Annahvi smiled in amusement as she watched the Space Man begin to climb up the enormous tower of trees, but the moment he was out of sight she quickly turned to her hand which was still closed in a fist. As she slowly opened her hand, she could feel the smooth surface, and was almost relieved when she saw the silver ring gleaming in her hands.

"Well at least I know I'm not going crazy." she chuckled to herself, slipping on the ring.

Only moments later she was with Honeydew and Xephos once more, inside the remains of the catwalks system.

"Where the hell is he?" Honeydew said softly as he looked up a staircase.

"They're certainly no city walkways left," Xephos said, glancing at one of the signs, "He must be upstairs." and so he began climbing up a staircase with a sign which read, "Upper Docks"

"Is he on the top?" Xephos asked to no one in particular, but soon he was answered with rays of sunlight and the same dirty strange man standing amongst the trees and flowers. He was also standing next to a pillar with another sign, but this time the words were completely useless.

"Iggle-Boggle Bobble woo Hanfribble Bugslapto"

"He's written some jibberish," Xephos said, examining the sign.

"Ah you made it!" the gray-hair man said, the map fragment clutched in his hand, "Did you defile any land?"

"Not at all!" Xephos said proudly, "In fact, we...we were very good!"

"Brilliant!"

"There is a massive tree!" Honeydew added, "You'll love it! I'm brown-nosing him a bit."

Xephos and Annahvi glanced at him in amusement before chuckling softly.

"Not literally!" Honeydew scolded, "That would be disgusting!"

"Now," Swampy said as he glanced up to the skies, "hold on while I channel the energies of nature itself!" Xephos watched in confusion as he slowly began to hover once more, but after his pervious flying, he had become more adapted to the sight. However, when he turned to Annahvi, he was surprised to see her smiling, as if she had realized a great secret.

"The map pieces..." he began, "One is surrounded by cutlass and cannon. One is held by a lord of the sky."

"Oh no..." Xephos and Honeydew said, "Which one."

"Remember," Annahvi stated, "You said _possibly_."

"One is buried deep below bedrock...I see beards, man..." and with that, Swampy_Bogbeard planted his feet back on the ground, "I am...exhausted. I can do no more for you at this time."

"Well okay," Honeydew said as he approached the filthy hippie, "You have a rest. Give me my map, give me my map back."

"The first map piece lies through Skull Pass." he informed as he handed the Dwarf the map fragment, "Follow the trail, test your archery skills...Go! Man..."

"Ok!" Xephos said as he and his friends slowly decent down the stairs.

"Bless you, you crazy bastard!" Honeydew added as they quickly hurried down the tree ladder.

"Farewell," Swampy added, "Don't defile the land!"

"Well try not to!" Xephos called back.

"Or I'll find you and kill you!"

"Okay let's get out of here..." Annahvi said with a laugh as they reached the ground.

"Swampy _away_!" Honeydew laughed as he began to run around and make silly sound effects.

"Ah, I love Swampy." Xephos said between laughs.

"I'm not sure I like him, guys." Honeydew said as they headed back to The Skull, "I'm not sure I like him. He's a...He's a strange one."

"I don't know," Xephos said, "He's good hearted I think,"

"Really?"

"He's a bit well he's Fumblemore's bother, so he's bound to be a bit weird. Fumblemore's weird enough."

"This is true, this is ver true."

As they began to leave the remains of the city, they paused for a moment when they saw a tunnel where the sewage flowed out of the city.

"Jasper's Sewer." Honeydew read, "The sewer was named after Skylord_Jasper or his family."

"Well maybe he _owns_ it," Xephos suggested.

"Alright, make- make a note to investigate that later." Honeydew instructed, "We'll investigate that later."

"Okay..."

"Put that on the list of things we'll probably never do, but. Ya know, it's not something we've forgotten."

As Honeydew finished his instructions, they had reached the mouth of The Skull, and the trip of the other side of the mountain was far less laborious that their first time, as the people of the Carnivale had taken down the ride. As they began to climb down the set of stairs to the remains of the Carnivale, they spotted Strongman_Bruno who was busy destroying enormous chucks of obsidian.

"Bruno!" Xephos said nervously, "What's up, pal?"

"Ya cheatin' bastard..." Honeydew muttered under his breath. Although the strongman probably didn't hear him, he looked up anyways and smirked at the Dwarf.

"AH LITTLE BABBY BACK FOR MORE!" he laughed,

"Don't you start!" Honeydew said, as Annahvi was ready to intervene in case things took a turn for the worse.

"I think we're gonna have to see if we can get one over on him somehow." Xephos said, "If he can break obsidian, I don't know what we can do."

Honeydew looked Strongman_Bruno up and down before his eyes lit up and a devilish smile began to crack on his face.

"Oh I know." he chuckled evilly before walking behind the strongman, who was so busy boasting he didn't even notice the Dwarf.

"You need much more practice to be the like of me little babby."

But at that, Honeydew quickly planted a sapling at his feet, and began to add more and more bone meal as he laughed. Soon enough, the sapling sprouted into an enormous tree, trapping the foolish strongman. Instantly, the three heroes burst out into laughter as Strongman_Bruno struggled to break free.

"NOOOOO-" he yelled, his voice slightly muffled.

"Break your way out of that!" Xephos laughed.

"Sweet revenge."

"Oh that's just mean..." Annahvi said between chuckles, but soon enough the three of them began running away to a station with a large red target, "Let's get out of here," Xephos chuckled, "before he, like, breaks free. What were we supposed to do here? Archery?"

"Archery?" Honeydew repeated, until he saw the large red target that was on the opposite side of a floor of sand. "Oh! Here it is, yeah..."

"What do we do?" Xephos said as he entered behind the counter, "Is there uh...Is there a secret passage or something around here?"

"'Test your archery skills," Honeydew repeated as they returned to the large target behind the fence, "Let's just take it literally, right?"

And at that, Annahvi scoffed confidentially as she lightly pushed Honeydew to the side, "Let me take care of this, Simon."

"Mr. Banjo's riding a pig, behind you." Xephos added.

"Okay," Honeydew said, "So you've got to shoot the target."

"That's how it works." Annahvi said as she drew back her bow. It was only a moment later that the arrow left her fingers and it struck the very center ring, on the edge where the white met the red. However, even after two more arrows struck the target in the middle, nothing happened.

"Have you missed?" Xephos asked, earning a playful slap.

"How dare you!" she huffed, as she walked up to the target and removed the three arrows.

"Hm...This is a bit cryptic. Is there like a hidden button or a hidden switch, or do we have to dig around or something?"

As Xephos was suggesting different options, Honeydew had gone up to inspect the target himself, and when he did his eyes fell upon a small hole which was hidden by a pile of sand.

"Oh! So...there's a hole here?"

"What?" Annahvi scoffed in disbelief before she and Xephos joined her Dwarven friend, "I don't believe y-...Well shit. How did I miss that?"

"Amazing." Xephos said, "Do you reckon this is what Swampy meant when he said check out the archery range?"

"If you keep shooting," Honeydew suggested, "Will another hole open?"

"What? No! This is like a secret passageway, you idiot!"

"Oh right," Honeydew laughed, "Okay...Oh I didn't know! Sorry, I didn't realize it worked like that!"

Annahvi and Xephos watched as their friend slowly decent down the ladder and into a small underground room, and soon the two of them followed.

"Simon, I'm seriously beginning to question your intelligence."

"Look! I'm not a clever man."

"Yeah, I've noticed..."

As Annahvi and Honeydew were busy arguing with one another, Xephos was preoccupied with a small door and a sign beside it which read, "Warning: Tight Spaces". He cautiously entered the second room, but relief and realization settled upon him.

"Aha! Here we are!" he placed down a torch beneath another sign "Look, 'Bootlegger's Pass to BBQ Bay'. There's like a _single_ square of water here,"

"I'm goin' in!" Honeydew said bravely as he quickly jumped into the water. Xephos and Annahvi quickly followed after, and were quickly enveloped in water. The trip in the water only laster a few seconds before they were in a small dark corridor.

"It's very dark down there, guys." Honeydew said as they began placing down torches, "It's very dark."

"Lovely," Annahvi joked as she began to wring out the water from her clothes.

"So this is like the top secret root that the bootleggers obviously came from this um-"

"During prohibition," Xephos suggested, receiving a laugh from Honeydew, "The Prohibition of Mistral City? Really?"

"Transferring bootleg hooch and, uh, contraband liquor for the uh...for the Skylords, maybe? Or maybe it's just what the Carnivale used for, like, their cheating ways."

"I don't this it has anything to do with the Carnivale, though." Honeydew said, "'Cause the Carnivale comes and goes; this looks like it's ancient. That it's been here for-" However, he was interrupted when he practically ran into a wall of wooden boards.

"It's a dead end. 'BBQ Bay Smuggler's Cove'. Can you read it?"

"Yeah," Xephos said as he took out an axe, "Just smash through it, I guess."

"I don't have an axe. I don't - how do I?"

"There you go," Xephos said as he handed his friend the axe, "You'd thought they would've had more, like, consideration in building this thing two wide but...but no."

They waited as Honeydew continued to break through the wooden boards until they were finally able to step out of the cove and into the shores of BBQ Bay.

"Oh my dear God!" Honeydew said as his eyes rested on the docks, "I guess that's BBQ Bay over there."

"Wow!" Xephos said as he looked up to see several shining torches and large pillars of wood which held the bay firmly imbedded into the ocean floor. "Oh it's magnificent!"

But as they starred out to the bay in the night sky, the three heroes were quickly snapped out of their trance when they hear a man from the bay speak.

"The waters here are a peaceful haven for us pirates. We cannot allow you to stay!"

"Is he talking to us?" Xephos asked as they examined a chest at the end of the nearby dock.

"Aye," another man spoke, "yer crew be eatin' for o' min already! We cannae be havin' it!"

"These boats are amazing." Xephos said as he quickly dropped a few small boats into the water for each of them to sail. "Do we wanna head over to the bay?"

"Either get busy swimming or get busy drowning." Annahvi shrugged as she hopped into her boat the three of them quickly sailed to the bay, shrouded by night as they approached the strange men, unknown whether they be friend or foe.


	21. Chapter 19

"I have just as much right to be here as you, Jock!" another man said, in a voice that sent shivers down the spines of the three heroes, "Or have ye forgotten the code."

"I have not!" the first man said, who was apparently Jock. By now, Xephos had almost made it to the stairs of BBQ Bay, with Annahvi and Honeydew trailing behind him.

"But we cannot be allowing you to stay. Ye bring the taint with you!"

"Wait a second," Annahvi said softly, "Did he say taint? Like the taint that afflicted Knight_Peculier?"

"It might be the same thing..." Xephos answered, as they heard the third man grumbling and yelling.

"Haud yer sheesht keptin sparkly keks!" said the second man, who was now visible enough to be seen as Angus_Eyeless. The three heroes couldn't help but laugh when the heard this as they reached the base of the stairs.

"Angus," Jock said, revealing his name to be Jock_Fireblast, "ye be facing the wrong way again..."

"Ya blind fool." said the third man, Grimjaw_Slugface.

"Awrite!"

As the three of the pirates continued their bickering, the three heroes had managed to climb aboard a ship residing in the bay, and cautiously approached the men.

"Who are these people?" Xephos asked softly.

"They're pirates," Honeydew said, "We need to be careful; they're, like...I don't know whether they're worse or better than carnies."

"They haven't noticed us yet..." Xephos said as his Dwarven friend took the lead.

"Maybe if we sneak up on them...Aw! They got a little doggie!"

"So much for sneaking up." Annahvi sighed as she stood beside Xephos.

"Well," Grimjaw continued, not paying any attention the sudden appearance of a Dwarf, Elf and Space Man, "If I cannot make port here, then nobody shall!"

A little too ominous, Annahvi thought as they all watched the pirate run off.

"HELLO ME HEARTIES!" Honeydew bellowed at the top of his lungs making everybody jump back, even the dog sitting beside Angus. But before any of them could say a single word, Grimjaw interrupted them once more.

"FIRE THE CANNONS!"

"Wait what?!"

The only reply was the echoing explosions of cannonballs and gunpowder which littered the sky with smoke and sound waves. "Oh my good grief!" Honeydew panicked as they watched the explosions in the sky obliterate a nearby support pillar, "He's gone mad!"

"What the heck was that?! Did he just fire the cannons?"

"By Blackbeard's beard!" Jock exclaimed as he backed away from the smoke and explosions. "Is this, like, a vital part of the bay?" Honeydew asked as they gathered around the damaged pillar and bay.

"Muckle!" Angus swore. But finally the remaining two pirates, and dog, turned to the three heroes, acknowledging their presence. As Jock_Fireblast turned to them, they were able to see he was wearing a basic shirt under a red jacket with a darker shade of maroon colored trousers. He had a beard and messy black hair which was mostly covered with a fetching hat; average pirate clothing.

Angus_Eyeless, however, was a _completely_ different story. His name held true as he had two eye patches which crossed each other. He also had messy grey hair and a long thick beard which was decorated with a few brightly colored beads. Other than that, his clothes were almost similar to Jocks' wit the exception of black trousers. A slightly less-than-average pirate.

"Ah, deckhands!" Jock said happily.

"Whathands?" Honeydew repeated, causing Annahvi to mentally slapper her forehead. "Deckhands," she explained, "Basically workers."

"Willing to earn a few doubloons?"

"Fore sure!" Xephos said eagerly, but he was easily overshadowed by his Dwarven friend yelling "We don't need no stinkeen doubloons!"

"Brilliant..." Annahvi sighed as she looked out into the horizon. "The map!" they continued, "Do you have any fragments!?"

"Head over to Angus' ship and wake up Spacker!" Jock instructed, "It's the big yellow one! He knows where the supplies are, you'll need them to repair that pillar!"

"Oh, God. He's just commanding us to do stuff." Xephos groaned.

"I'm sorry, wake up who?" Honeydew repeated, obviously dumbfounded by the pirates. "Spacker? Now I'm interested. There's something called Spacker."

"Now off with ye!" Jock continued.

"Well okay," Honeydew laughed as they ran off until they were able to see an enormous vessel adorned with yellow. "I'm guess is that it over there? That big yellow..."

"Oh God," Xephos sighed as he turned to nine crates of TNT stored away by fences and glass, "There's TNT precariously stored. 'In Case of Emergency!'"

"'Yaaaaar!'" Annahvi added, finishing the sign.

"Angus," they heard Jock yell, "You're facing the wrong way again."

"Aye!"

While Honeydew was simply meandering about, Xephos and Annahvi gazed up at the massive ship in splendor. "So whose ship is this?"

"I believe it's Angus' ship."

"It's _very_ cool. Um...how on Earth do we get on board?"

"Over here, I think, at the back." Honeydew suggested as he swamp to the stern, where there was a large rudder that lead to the deck.

"I can see someone called Spacker." Honeydew said as he reached the top of the rudder, "Oh my goodness." Unfortunately, the foolish Dwarf was so distracted, he slipped off the rudder and back into the water. "I think I might have to put another bit of ladder down..." he said as he treaded through the waters, and it was only moments later when he was back atop the rudder.

"I'm having trouble getting on top of this," the Space Man groaned as he struggled to get a firm grip on the rungs.

"You some kind of weakling, lad?"

"I don't think I have enough ladder.

"Hang on, hang on." Honeydew said as he placed down another ladder, only to see Xephos swim to the other side and finally reach the top of the rudder, where they looked up to see a large ladder tied against the stern and to the deck.

"Are you alright?" Honeydew asked, looking down at his friend.

"Well there we are," Xephos sighed as his Dwarven friend began climbing upwards, "There we are! Thank goodness, that was a trial."

Unfortunately the top of the ladder was too small to properly climb aboard the ship, unless they were to climb onto the stone slabs atop the fencing that surrounded the perimeter of the ship. "This is _very_ awkward!" Xephos laughed as Honeydew lost his grip before slipping off the ladder, only to basically fall right on top of Annahvi as he reached the rudder.

"Ow! Get off!" she groaned, pushing the Space Man off and back into the water.

"Is this really the way that everyone is supposed to get on board the ship." He heard Honeydew asked, before suddenly hearing Jock yelling in the distance. "Angus, get to yer ship! Man he cannons! Take him down!"

"Awrite!"

"Oh God," Xephos said as Honeydew climbed up the rudder, "I think there's some sort of pirate battle going on..."

"Oh God..." Honeydew sighed as he reached the top of the stern once more, only to fall back down into the sea below.

"Let me just take this bit out here," Xephos said as he slowly began to chip away at a portion of the fencing and stone.

"Our first challenge," Honeydew said as he watched the other man fall once more, "Haha! There's a bit of bloody fence here. Hang on, let me...We have to destroy the boat in order to board it!"

Xephos laughed as he and Honeydew finally stepped foot on board the deck. "There we go; I'm in! I'm in!"

"About bloody time!" Annahvi groaned as she clawed her way onto the ship deck, before widening her eyes and she looked around eagerly, "This place looks amazing!" she laughed as she began wandering around the deck exploring all of the ship, as would a little child.

"Brilliant."

As Xephos and Honeydew began to wonder around the ship before going to the sleeping quarters where they had assumed Spacker was residing, Annahvi was off exploring the ship in a less urgent fashion. She looked out into the horizon as she slowly began to walk to the bowsprit with her arms stretched to her side, almost as if she was a tightrope walker. "Have you ever gone sailing before, Isis?"

"_I've traveled overseas during my studies of mythology and cryptography_."she answered as she sat on the edge of the bow.

"Is that how you found the book?"

"_Correct_."

Annahvi smiled to her friend before sitting down at the very top of the sprit and looking up at the moon as it shone brightly. "So, how much stronger does my bond to Spirit Plane before I can do any actually control objects around me?"

"_To be brutally honest_," Isis said as she approached the Elf, "_Your connection wasn't very strong originally, but unlocking the book has bound it's magic to you, has strengthened you. Some practice every now and then and you'll be strong enough_."

Meanwhile, the two other heroes were busy completing their current objective of finding this pirate by the name of Spacker.

"Oh I found him!" Honeydew said, as Xephos reached the second level of the ship, before whispering, "He's in bed."

"Is he in bed?" Xephos repeated as they headed towards the sleeping pirate, "I think we were told to wake him up, weren't we?"

"Yeah," he agreed softly, but Xephos recoiled the moment he laid eyes on Spacker_LeChuck. "Oh my God he's terrifying! Look a him!"

Of course, having a man shouting directly across from you would wake up any person, so upon hearing Xephos, Spacker mumbled softly before looking up at Xephos and Honeydew, with the latter staring at him inquisitively. "Wha...What are ye!?" He slowly but surely turned around and got out of his bed, but the moment he did so Honeydew screamed in shock. At first glance, Spacker appeared to be a sickly Dwarf, with skin that had become a green tint and eyes that were bright red, but closer inspection revealed a massive cavity in the middle of his torso, which also showed some of his spine which had obviously been severed.

"What's wrong with him?!" Honeydew asked as Spacker turned to face them, showing a set of bloody ribs, "Has he got, like, a bit hole in him or something?!"

"He's like a zombie!"

"What is he? A zombie pirate?!"

"Hello?" Xephos said nervously to the reanimated pirate, "Are you okay?"

"Burn and salt him!" Honeydew interrupted, "Burn and salt him!"

"I'm not dead..." Spacker groaned to his fellow Dwarf, "I'M JUST SLEEPING! A-restin' me kidneys!"

"It's alright. Look, he's got a beard! A lovely beard." Xephos said reassuringly, before saying, "Actually he looks a lot like you; like, undead!"

"Are you me from the future?" Of course, the only replies that Honeydew received was a laugh from Xephos and a cough from Spacker.

"I don't think so," the Space Man finally answered, "No; that would just be a paradox. He does look like he's taken a...a bullet in the ribcage, though."

"Yeah...He's got a hole in him."

"Do you know where the supplies are?" Xephos asked, turning to the matter at hand, but Spacker didn't have time to answer before a massive barrage of explosions echoed through out the cabins.

"Spacker, quick! Supplies!" he urged.

"Me head aint what it was." Spacker replied as he slowly made his way out of the sleeping quarters and up towards the opposite side of the ship.

"What happened to you?" Xephos asked as they couldn't help but stare at the massive hole in his back. But instead of providing an answer, Spacker opened a few chests in front of him, revealing stacks of obsidian.

"Hey, guys!" Annahvi called out as she reached the second level, "Have you guys found this Spacker fellow yet? We've got to get out of here!"

"We're over here," Xephos said as he examined the chest.

"Jesus," she sighed as she examined Honeydew up and down, "He looks awful!"

"How rude!" he pouted.

"There not here," Spacker finally said, "Where'd he put em?" And after a bit of thinking, he finally said, "The storehouse!"

Upon hearing this, Xephos quickly headed down below to the lowest lever, where there were several chests.

"Lewis," Honeydew said, "All I can find down here are bricks and obsidian,"

"Hm...me too. I don't know, are we supposed to use bricks and obsidian to repair it?"

"Well the obsidian would be able to hold against explosions," Annahvi suggested as she rummaged through a nearby chest.

"Just take everything!" Honeydew said, becoming slightly panicked. But Xephos was quick to prove both his friends wrong when he entered another room and found dozens of stacks of wooden boards and logs.

"Oh there's loads of wood in here," he said as he opened another chest filled to the brim with logs, "Oh God this one's absolutely _full_ of wood. I think we're probably supposed to use wood. Well, the whole thing is usually made of wood, so it kind of wouldn't really make sense to make it out of brick, would it? Just pick up a couple of stacks, um...and let's head out."

"If you say so," Annahvi shrugged as she and Honeydew took a handful of stacks.

As Xephos continued to examine the lowest level, and Honeydew was already up to the deck, Annahvi was left to make her way to her friends, with Isis by her side as company.

"_This man has been deeply affected by the energies of the Spirit Plane_." she informed.

"I guess that makes sense," Annahvi said softly, "I mean, the man has a gaping hole in his stomach."

"_His spirit was been bound to his body; he cannot die_."

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?"

"_It can be useful, but it means that he will never rest in peace_."

"I see..."

As Annahvi finally reached the main deck of Angus' ship, shel looked up to see Honeydew staring at her in confusion.

"Something wrong, Simon?"

"Who were you talking to?" he asked, scratching his bead in puzzlement. Annahvi instantly widened her eyes in realization; she hadn't told neither Honeydew nor Xephos about Isis and the book. She was just about to explain everything in the briefest way possible, when Isis spoke up once more.

"_Don't tell him anything!_" she blurted out, and Annahvi had to practically restrain herself from asking her friend why. "_He and your other friend cannot know yet. They would not understand your intentions for control_."

She glanced as her shadow friend for a moment before looking back to Honeydew who was still confused.

"I um...I...Y-You didn't say anything?" she finally stuttered nervously.

"No..." he answered suspiciously.

"Oh...I thought you did." By this point, Annahvi was practically sweating bullets; she always was a horrible liar. Honeydew was just about to talk once more, but he stopped when he saw Angus on board the ship with his guide dog by his side.

"Aw," Annahvi laughed as she examine the dog, "How sweet." She knelt down to pet the dog, but this time he growled angrily, baring sharp teeth.

"You'll have to forgive him," Angus laughed, facing the wrong direction once more, "He's very protective."

"I see..."

"There's _another_ ship over there!" Xephos said as he looked over starboard to see a ship parallel to them, all alit with torches, "Have you seen this one?"

"Oh my God," Honeydew said as he and Annahvi joined their friend, as Xephos motioned to a ship in the distance behind them. "And there's like a...wrecked one sinking over there. I don't know when that one went down."

"Couldn't have been to far," Annahvi said as she squinted in the dark of the night, "It would've sunk to the bottom by now.

"Splice the mainbrace!" they heard Jock Yell from the distance, "We cannae let the top platform fall!"

"I think we probably should go to the main thing," Xephos said as he and his friends headed back to the bay, "It looks like they're...They're gettin' worried about the whole thing falling down."

"I don't wanna piss these guys off either," Honeydew said as they followed Spacker.

"Me kidneys, pals..." Spacker groaned as one of his organs flopped out of the hole in his stomach.

"Oh God!" Honeydew said as he ran away, "I think he just dropped one."

"Ew!"

"Get your backs into action and fix that here pillar!" Jock commanded.

"It's alright, Spacker." Honeydew said as he ran to the zombie's aid, "I've got your kidney. I've got your kidney here."

"Lovely," Annahvi chuckled softly under the booms of the explosions.

"Where was this pillar that we're supposed to be mending?" Xephos asked as he looked around, "Was it in this corner there? I think it was, like, here, where you are." He sighed as he joined Honeydew as the very corner of the bay where some of the platform was obviously damaged. "Let's just get a bit of building action on," he suggested, "This is looking a bit...Yeah, this is looking a bit vulnerable. Do you reckon it was there?" he motioned, "Where that whirlpool thing is?"

"Oh that makes sense!" Honeydew said as he dove into the water to inspect the damage, "Yeah, we-we _really_ need to mend this, guys. The whole top bit doesn't look very steady. It's got, like, a massive wooden pillar missing where it should be holding it up."

"Yeah, it's a bit unsteady isn't it?"

And yet just as the three of them began to repair the enormous support pillar, yet another explosion filled the air.

"They're worse than Fumblemore!" Honeydew said, exasperated, "Good grief! Just calm down! Go fives minutes without blowing shit up!""

"Well these guys are causing explosions on purpose," Annahvi reminded as she surfaced from the water, "While Fumblemore's just a crazy wizard.

"Is this the bit that's falling down?" Xephos asked as he looked up to the upper platform, "It looks like it's made of log, actually. Um...the pillar, anyway, does."

"Haha!" Jock laughed triumphantly an enormous hole was created in Grimjaw's ship, "Take that!"

"I kind of like these guys," Annahvi admitted as they laughed together, "They live exciting lives."

"They're attacking at, like, Grimjaw's ship," Xephos chuckled as he watched the pirate foe attempt to repair the enormous breach in his vessel, "Oh my God, he's like building. Oh...'kay, hang on. Let's quickly rebuild this."

"Scurwy me shibbers!" Angus yelled.

"Does he have, like, a speech impediment?" Annahvi asked as she handed Honeydew more logs as they began to build a three-by-three square. "He might do..."

"They didn't really..." Honeydew started, "They didn't really tell us what they _wanted _from it. So, ya know, like any design, you need uh...you need a brief from the client."

"But it's like- there's like nine. It's looks like there's nine bits of log there." Xephos explained, as he looked back up at the platform above, "So if we just go with something like this, this'll it'll probably work just fine."

"Oh okay, it might just all collapse and fall on us."

"I doubt that's likely," Annahvi chuckled as she placed down more and more logs.

"Blast!" Jock cursed as began fending of a wave of skeletons.

"How do you like that, Jock?" Grimjaw mocked, but his rival only laughed. "You'll have to do better than that!"

"Oh my God!" Honeydew cried as he watched the fight from above, "There's pirates! Pirates are...Oh God! The skeletons and pirates! There's all sorts of excitement going on out here!"

"Sweet," Annahvi laughed before handing Honeydew the rest of her building materials and taking out her bow and arrow, "I'm going out to play."

"Fine," the Dwarf pouted, "You go have fun while we're busy building this massive fuckin' pillar."

"I'm defending you."

"Angus_Eyelss," Spacker groaned, "help for a fellow 'ere."

"AYE!"

"Can ye see me matey?"

"Nei!"

"I'm gonna help kill these monsters down here, Lewis." Honeydew said as he abandoned the laboring Space Man, "You're doing a great job up there, man, great job; it's top notch."

"Thanks," Xephos chuckled sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm covered in splinters, my hands are bleeding from all this building. I think I'm done, though."

"Good to hear," Annahvi sighed as her friend jumped into the sea below before the air was filled with explosions once more.

"It's not really well supported under here," Xephos admitted as he looked underwater to see a massive break in the pillar, "But, no one will notice that."

"It's good enough," Honeydew laughed, "It'll probably be blown up again in a minute anyway, at this rate. I'm surprised if any of this place is gonna be standing in five minutes."

"Aharr!" Jock shouted triumphantly as he examined the finished repairs, "The upper platform stands! You! Deckhands!"

"What did you just call me?" Xephos asked, almost offended, until he realized that Jock had said 'deckhands'.

"Take out Grimjaw!" he commanded.

"But why?" Honeydew managed to finally say.

"Burn down his ship! Don't you answer me back, Dwarf!"

"Aye Aye Cap'n!" the Dwarf happily obeyed, "I can do that!"

"Do you need a boat?" the Xephos asked as they accompanied their friend to the edge of the bay, "I have a spare boat."

"Look," Honeydew said as he jumped into the water, "I don't trust boats."

And so, the Space Man and Elf could only watched as their Dwarven friend swam off to create havoc. However, as Honeydew began to approach the enemy ship, one of Grimjaw shot an arrow into the water, just barely missing the Dwarf by a hair. "Oh Jesus!"

But thankfully, he reached the base of the boat, in a perfect blind spot where neither Grimjaw nor his zombie pigmen could harm them. Honeydew instantly took out his treasured flint and tinder and in only a few seconds what started as a spark bloomed into an evil flower of heat.

"MY SHIP!" Grimjaw screamed, "AAHHHHHHHHHRRRR! MY BEARD'S ON FIRE!"

Honeydew laughed evilly as he watched the fire grow and spread, and Xephos couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Annahvi, however, watched the fire of the ship with a look of contempt. Even though Grimjaw was certainly an enemy to the innocent, he had caused no harm to any of her or her friends, intentional or otherwise. He only was angry because he wasn't allowed to dock. As she began to question her friends' actions, she could instantly sense Isis behind her.

"_You don't like fire_," Isis concluded, "_Do you_?"

Annahvi couldn't say any actual words without causing at leastsome confusion to Xephos, so she slowly shook her head.

"Your boat be burnin!" Jock gloated, "And yer maps be going with it too!"

"Wait maps?!" the three of them yelled.

"Ah shit," Annahvi cursed as she untied a nearby boat to the docks and began to row out to the burning ship, "I should've known that fire was going to be trouble!"

"Oh God!" Xephos called out to Honeydew as he quickly jumped on board, "There's spiders behinds you, swimming towards you! Careful!"

"Oh God!" Honeydew panicked as he turned to see the eight legged bests coming towards him.

"Grab on!" Annahvi commanded as she began to row faster and faster to Grimjaw, leaving just enough time for Honeydew to grab onto the end of the rowboat and drag himself out of the water.

"Still don't trust boats?" Xephos chuckled.

"Shut up..."


	22. Chapter 20

"Oh my God..." Honeydew sighed as he looked up to the burning ship, "But did you see that? Did you hear him? He said the maps are burning up! I think Slugface might have the map fragment."

Annahvi groaned as they rowed closer to the wreckage, "Is getting on a burning and sinking ship a very wise idea?"

_BOOM!_

Xephos instantly ducked down as they heard the gunpowder in Grimjaw's ship explode in a flash, sending shockwaves rolling through the waters.

"C-Can we check his, like, boat for chests?" the Space man suggested, "Is there any- before they get burned up? Do you reckon he's got the fragment on his person?"

_BOOM!_

"Well as I was saying," Annahvi said as their small rowboat bumped into the bow of Grimjaw's ship, "If you want to jump on a ship half sinking and half burning, feel free to go aboard. Just let me know where I can recover your bodies."

The two men were just about to respond to their cynical friend, but before they could even get a word in edgewise, a voice boomed behind the two of them, aboard the burning ship.

"I'LL KILL YE!"

"Aha!" Honeydew laughed as he successfully jumped on the burning wreck, almost instantly surrounded by burning Zombie Pigmen. Xephos was just about to follow suit, but as he did so, he met face-to-face with Grimjaw_Slugface.

The fire had taken its toll on not just the ship, but also Grimjaw and his Pigmen. His clothes were still burning, hair and beard singed, an iron sword wielded in his blistered hands, and a face of sheer loathing. The next thing Xephos knew, he had been thrown back into the water by simply two swipes from Grimjaw's sword.

"Okay!" Xephos gasped as he resurfaced, "Grimjaw is still alive and kicking!"

"Here," Annahvi said, extending one of the oars, "Get back in the boat."

After a few minutes of thrashing and flailing about, he had finally managed to flop into the boat, and just in time to see Honeydew catch on fire as he tried his best to fend off the onslaught of burning Pigmen.

"Lewis!" Honeydew wailed as he ran about, "Annahvi!"

"Careful! Don't die!" Xephos said as they cautiously reproached the ship.

"Dwarf," they heard Spacker yell from the bay, "Ye s'posed ta pillage before ye burn!"

"That would've been _really_ helpful about ten minutes ago!" Annahvi yelled back as they circled around the bow of the boat once more. They managed to catch sight of Honeydew, as he threw himself into the sea, right before they saw Grimjaw appear from the burning remains, screaming as he plunged into the water as well.

"Oh God, he escaped," Xephos said as they carefully rowed closer to where he had dived.

"Just get your sword ready if he's still up for a fight," Annahvi said cautiously sailed closer and closer, until they were practically above him. She gazed down into the water for any sign of the enemy pirate, but not even an air bubble surfaced from the water.

"I think that's it..." she sighed as Xephos sheathed his sword, "I think he's passed."

Of course, because the Elf had said this, neither she nor the Space Man prepared for Grimjaw to return to the surface once more, and they screamed in horror as blood began to pour from his mouth, mixing into the water.

"Oh God!" Xephos cringed, "He's bleedin' to death."

"Fucking disgusting!" Annahvi cursed as she kicked him back from their rowboat, where he slowly bobbed up and down before finally sinking to the bottom of the ocean floor, leaving behind a trail of blood that slowly dispersed into the water.

"Well..._Now_ he's passed." the she said as she carefully peered over the boat.

"I've got a _lot_ of angry Pigmen, guys!" Honeydew yelled out as he swam frantically to the bay.

"Oh God," Xephos laughed as he watched.

"I don't like this! I don't like this at all!"

"Don't bring em over here!" Jock said as he shooed away the Dwarf as if he was a feral animal.

"Okay," Xephos said, his diamond sword now equipped, "We'll come and help you."

"Take them out!" Honeydew instructed as the Space Man managed to strike one of the Zombie Pigmen down. Unfortunately, in the nature of Pigmen, the others that were chasing Honeydew instantly forgot about their target and instead turned to Xephos, with their golden swords raised.

"Good luck!" Honeydew laughed as they began frantically rowing away from the herd of reanimated pigs.

"Simon, you jerk!"

Finally though, the two heroes had sailed far enough for the Honeydew to take out the remaining Pigmen, giving Xephos a chance to flop down in the rowboat, panting heavily.

"Are you alright?" Annahvi asked, not bothering to shift her gaze from the sky. "Um...Y-Yeah..." he sighed, "You?"

"I'm fine. But I think I'll stop eating pork for a bit." He chuckled casually before slowly turning his head, and instantly he saw Honeydew treading water as he continued to hack away at a few more Zombie Pigmen, "Get out of there!" he scolded, "Stop playing around; you'll get yourself killed."

"But the map fragment..." Honeydew said as they rowed closer to him.

"I think if it _was_ in the ship," Xephos suggested, pulling Honeydew into the boat with them, "It's now burned up. So...Spacker did say that we have plundered before we burned, so we may well be in trouble?"

"Should we ask these guys now that madness seems to have come to an end?" Xephos could only laugh at his friend's question before finally reaching the docks of BBQ Bay once more, where they managed to regroup with, Jock, Angus, and Angus' dog.

"We didn't even get a chance to introduce ourselves or anything, they just put us to service."

"We didn't, did we?" Xephos asked as he stopped playing with Angus' dog.

"Under the circumstances," the Elf admitted, "I believe that formalities were the last of their problems."

"You, deckhands!" Jock called out, earning attention from the three heroes, "You were a good set of hands to have aboard. Any time you be needin' a favor, just be askin'."

"Do you know about a piece of an evil map?" Xephos asked.

"A map fragment?"

"Exactly!" Annahvi confirmed, but Jock's laughter created an uneasy feeling for her. Meanwhile, Honeydew and Xephos were busy studying Spacker once more.

"You'll be lucky if you don't trip over one around here!"

"Well that's helpful." Honeydew commented sarcastically.

"Show me the piece ye already have."

"Okay, here we go." the Dwarf showed him the piece of the map.

"Let's see..." Jock said, taking the paper in his hands. But the moment his fingers grazed against the parchment, his let out a howl of pain and threw the paper to the floor in front of Xephos.

"Something wrong?" Honeydew asked as he picked up the map, "Did you get a paper cut off of it?"

"That be tainted," he hissed, clutching his hand, "it carries the black spot. I would suspect Grimjaw_Slugface. His ship be burnin in Davey's locker, but rumors about of his treasure hold!"

"Treasure?" Annahvi asked, looking up at Jock.

"Where's this treasure hold?" Honeydew asked.

"Findin' it won't be easy, for someone else is already on its trail! The Dread Pirate, Norris!"

"...What?"

"Come with me," Jock said as he headed towards the ocean and untied three of the boats beside the one already docked. As they headed to the edge of the dock, Xephos looked over at his Dwarven friend to see he was already fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Simon, pal?"

"I ain't afraid of no Dread Pirate." he snapped, "The only reason I'm shivering is because it's a bit nippy."

"Right..." Annahvi chuckled as she hopped into her original boat.

"Well off we go," Xephos said as they hopped into the other two boats and followed Jock.

"Be careful o'them cannons, Dwarf!" Spacker called out as they sailed off into the horizon, "Ya don't wanna end like me!"

They sailed for a little while without saying anything else, before Annahvi finally spoke up, "So this Dread Pirate Norris?"

"Terrible woman," Jock answered quickly, "Treasure hunter, Thief! Vagabond! She'd know for sure, sailed up yonder..."

As almost instantly afterwards, the sight of an enormous ship began to show itself to the heroes.

"Wow..." Xephos laughed, "Is that what he wanted to show us, do you think?"

But as they continued to sail towards the ship, Xephos turned to see that Jock had sopped rowing and now simply bobbed up and down on the sea.

"There be her ship," he said, "I must sail back and help fix Barbeque Bay."

"Well thank you, Jock." Annahvi said as they continued to sail off, "I hope we'll see each other again."

"Aye, lassie." he chuckled before sailing back to the bay.

"So this is the ship of...of the terrible woman." Honeydew said as they continued sailing to the ship, "The Vagabond..."

"The Dread Pirate Norris."

"So she's a lady? It's been a while...It's been a while, Lewis. I think it's time I moved on from Granny_Bacon."

"Oh God..." Annahvi chuckled with a roll of her eyes, but the moment they were close enough to the ship, the jokes and laughter stopped and was soon replaced with shock and awe. For on the stern of the black-sailed ships was indeed a woman. She had raven black hair, cloudy blue eyes, and a slight rose to her cheeks, wearing a simple beige blouse and black trousers. But her appearance was not what surprised the three heroes the most. For above her head was her title, Isabel_Peculier.

"Oh. My. God!"

"Stay away from the Black Pimple!" Isabel warned, holding an iron sword, "Ye landlubbing scum! I am the Dread Pirate Norris! And will slit ya gizzards open!"

"Lovely..." Annahvi shuddered as she placed her hand on her neck.

"Isabel!" Honeydew called out.

"Who?"

"I have never laid eyes upon such a beauty!"

"Simon," the Elf said, "You're gonna get us killed, so shut the fuck up!"

"What? I'm Norris! Scourge of the seas!"

"No, Honeydew said, "Your name's Isabel, I can see; it's floating above your head."

"We know a knight called Old_Peculier!" Xephos added, "Do you know him? We are on a quest for the map?"

"I don't know who ye be talkin' about!" she shouted, before softly hushing them and speaking softly, "Don't mention that name out here! Tis a bad omen! You three idiots are obviously not my enemy. Come aboard."

"That's a bit of a backhanded compliment," Annahvi sighed as they sailed around the ship to the shores.

The Black Pimple was a fairly decent ship, with large black sails. Of course, the main flaw in the large vessel was that it was practically secured to the shores.

"Oh God," Xephos said softly as they set foot on land, "It looks like her ship's, like, crashed into the ground or something over here..."

"Yeah," Honeydew agreed, "It looks like she's run aground or something. Typical women drivers, am I right?"

_SPLASH!_

"Annahvi!" Xephos scolded.

"What?" the Elf asked as the dusted herself off, "He was askin' for it."

"You're also looking for Grimjaw's treasure?" Isabel asked as she went aboard the ship.

"Actually not the treasure," Honeydew said as he began to wring out his beard, "Just one part of old paper."

"What is going on with this boat?" Xephos asked softly, "Why has it got, like, earth growing up onto the deck?"

"Do you think - Do you think she's single, guys?" Honeydew asked, "Do you think she would be interested in a lonely, recently widowed Dwarf?"

"You marry Granny_Bacon," Annahvi shuddered, "You two were just lovers, as horrifying as the thought is..."

"What happened here?" Xephos said, turning to the matter at hand.

"We can talk later," Isabel said, "but my first mate has gone missing!"

"So Isabel -" Honeydew began.

"Follow this way!" the pirate said as they ran off, completely disregarding the Dwarf and his flirtations.

"And just like that, she was out of your life." Annahvi chuckled as they followed after her.

"Oh she's off! She's off."

"Dammit!" Honeydew cursed as he quickly caught up with Isabel, "Are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

Now, both Annahvi and Xephos were expecting Honeydew to get slapped or pushed back into the waters, so they couldn't help but chuckle to themselves when she answered honestly, "Why...no." As her cheeks turned a slight pink.

"The thing is," Xephos added, "How old is she? How is she related to Knight_Peculier; that's what I'm a bit worried about."

"She looks of age if that's your concern."

"Oh God, Simon." Annahvi groaned, "I _really_ didn't need that image in my head."

"Do you maybe wanna go for a bear sometime?" the Dwarf continued as they reached the entrance to a long tunnel which was flooded with water.

"Maybe later," Isabel answered with a wink.

"I'm Dwarfing it up," he said to himself, "I've still got it! I've still got it!"

Of course, by this point, Xephos had forgotten about Honeydew, as his attention was now to a sign which hung above the mouth of the cave. "Danger...If you...You will die here...What does that sign say?"

""Danger You will Die if You Sail Down Here'."

"And you were just gonna walk down there, weren't you?" Annahvi asked to Honeydew.

"I'm not so sure anymore..."

"Now go, through the waterway." Isabel instructed, "I'll fix the Pimple, and I'll have a grog for you when you return! My mate is on Skumbucket Isle, last I heard!"

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Not scared, are ye? Not a big strong Dwarf like you!"

"Come on, Romeo!" Annahvi groaned as she grabbed Honeydew by the beard, interrupting his flexing.

"Do we just sail down here?" Xephos said as he quickly grabbed a few pilot-less rowboats that was floating along the sea.

"Well what's the worse that can happen, really?"

"The ceiling falls out, or we go down a whirlpool, and there's, like, a terrible Kraken."

"So basically, we die." Annahvi answered as she hopped into the boat.

"Come on, guys." Honeydew said as he found another boat, "Let's get this done with. I've got a hot date."

"I strongly doubt you're her type." Annahvi chuckled as they sailed around the corner and out of the waterway.

"Okay, there's no peril or danger of any description." Xephos said reassuringly, "It looks like there's just...well there is some lava over there." he motioned his head to a small flow of lava that was seeping out into the water, providing some light to the three heroes. But only moments after they approached a small plot of land with a sign on top.

"Skumbucket Island this Way'" Xephos read. And so the three of them sailed out into the darkness, the only light provided was the moon and that small flow of lava. However, as they continued to sail further and further, they were able to faintly make out a spark of light. They carefully weaved between the large rocks and approached a small plot of land with a small chair, a torch, and a large umbrella.

"There's a Creeper," Xephos warned, "Watch out! It's gonna blow up my boat."

But he was able to carefully knock back the monster, creating a fair gap between them.

"I think I got it." Xephos sighed as he reached the shores of the tiny island, only to hear Honeydew panicking.

"You haven't got it!" he said, "You' haven't got it at all!" And in a quick panic, the Dwarf was able to kill the monster and reached the island safely. "I think I got it."

But right behind the unfortunate hero was yet another Creeper, looming from the darkness.

"OH BEHIND YOU!" Xephos screamed as he quickly fled the island. There was a small explosion that practically obliterated the island, and extinguishing the only torch.

"NO!" Honeydew wailed as he ran away.

"Oh crickey..." Xephos sighed as he placed down a few torches on what remained of the island, "Are you okay?"

"Um...I think whoever's island this is, they're not gonna be happy with us. It looked really cosy and stuff and now...and now it's ruined."

"Well it's nothing that can't be patched up," Annahvi shrugged.

"Look!" Honeydew said as he stood on the edge of a small hole, big enough for a person to fit through. It was fairly lit and the bottom was visible, but there was no clear way to get back up.

"Do you reckon this is the lost...what is this?" Xephos asked as he looked down, "Is this the map...of the lost..."

"I think this is Grimjaw's treasure hold." Annahvi said as Honeydew slipped down.

"What's down there, friend?"

"Well let's find out," and with that, both the Elf and Space Man descended into the underground room.

It was a rather large room, with an enormous pile of gold in one corner, and a corridor on the opposite side.

"Gold!" Annahvi laughed as she examined the enormous blocks, "Guys you need to see this...Guys?"

She turned to see what Xephos and Honeydew were so captivated with, and the moment she saw, she almost completely forgot about the gold. In the corner of the corridor was a strange figure. It appeared to have the body of a human, and even wore clothes and had light black hair. However, his skin was a faded gray color, several buttons were embedded in the back of his head, and he had a single glowing eye. He didn't say anything - he didn't even move, and above his head was the title PirateTinman.

"Hello?" Annahvi asked, carefully tapping the metal man, and almost instantly he jolted awake. The strange robot examined the three of them for a while before finally letting out a stream of binary code, a mess of 1s and 0s.

"Do you know how to speak robot?" Honeydew asked to either of his friends, but the answer was obvious.

"Um...not really. No..."

"Brilliant..."


	23. Chapter 21

"He hasn't got any weapons, and he doesn't look particularly offensive, so I'm not too worried about that," Xephos said after some time, "There is a cryptic message on the wall, here. Have you seen this?" he then motioned to a small wooden sign that was nailed to the stone walls, and on it read:

_Two shall  
>make way<br>Two will stand  
>still<em>

"Well that's a little too ominous for my taste." Annahvi sighed, "So is one of us going to have to stay down here with PirateTinman while the other two get help?"

"I don't know quite what that means," Xephos admitted, "But there is also a hole, a dark hole. So maybe we're supposed to venture down into this hole."

They looked down to see that there were stairs made of gold blocks which provided a safe decent down, but Notch knows what monsters and traps awaited them down there.

"Dark-y, dark-y, hole!" Honeydew sung, earning a laugh from his friends, despite the uncertainty of the situation. But without any hesitance, the Dwarf climbed down the gold stairs and into a very tiny room.

"Oh," the Dwarf said in deflated realization, "It's not a big place."

"It's like a little tomb-y kind of thing." Xephos said as he looked around the strange room, but they were quickly able to spot a button in one of the upper holes and a sign on the opposite side of the room.

"Read Note #824. Brilliant." Xephos said, a tone of slight aggravation, "Ah, we haven't been _given_ any notes! There is a button here, though."

"Hello!" Honeydew burst out, imitating the world-renowned Professor Grizwald, "You've entered my vault!"

"There's a button here," the Space Man continued after he was done laughing, "Is pressing that do anything?"

"Only one way to find out," Annahvi shrugged and so Xephos pushed the button with a _click_, but nothing happened.

"Maybe it's broken," she suggested, but then realization struck Xephos. "There was a button up here that the Tinman was lookin' at."

"There's two buttons, Lewis." Honeydew repeated as Xephos left the small tomb, "There's two buttons and the clue is 'Two shall...Two shall make way'."

"Well you press that button, and I'll press this button," Xephos instructed, "Let's see if anything happens...In three...two...one...press!"

Xephos pushed down on the stone button, and from the tomb he could hear the faint click of Honeydew pressing the other button.

Suddenly the floor gave way beneath him and soon he was falling, till he hit the solid stone once more.

"What's happened?" Honeydew asked as he climbed out of the tomb, "What's happened man?"

"Okay, I fell down a hole, but it wasn't a very long fall, thank goodness."

As the other three looked down to see that a set of stairs had revealed themselves with the push of a button.

"So this was like...This was, like, hidden or something." Xephos said as he turned to see a lever on the side of the stairs. "I don't know what this lever does. Shall I pull the lever?" But he didn't for a response and simply pulled the lever into an upright position; this time nothing happened.

"It might cover...no." Honeydew suggested as he joined Xephos at the stairs. He tried the switch once more, and this time the stone slabs were once again above them, hiding the stairs.

"Hey!" Annahvi yelled, her voice slightly muffled from the stone, "Let me in!"

"So it seals Annahvi and the Tinman back upstairs," Xephos explained as he flicked the switch again, causing Annahvi to fall down to the stairs with them, "Do you reckon he's been here all this time cause he hasn't been able to complete the puzzle on his own? That's a bit sad, isn't it."

"Aw..." Honeydew gushed as they climbed to the top of the stairs and to the Tinman. "Do you want to come with us?"

The Tinman nodded.

"Right, let's go." Xephos laughed as they climbed down the stairs.

"Follow me!"

"Let's find this flippin' treasure. Um...carefully.

They continued down the stairs until they reached the bottom, which lead to a rather strange enigma. There was a small hallway littered with levers and torches, and at the start of the hallway was an iron door.

"I like a lever puzzle," Xephos said, "Don't you? I do like, a lever puzzle."

"I don't!" Honeydew opposed, "Oh, God, look at all the...Oh, there's loads of levers!"

And so the three heroes spent a decent amount of time trying to find the answer to the strange puzzle. All of the levers would create some tune, but a few of them created a strange click instead of a note. And after a bit of bickering and switching levers, Xephos pushed the button beside the door, and the door opened.

"We did it, guys!" Honeydew cheered, "We did it with the help of the Tinman!"

"Yeah, he was _really_ helpful," the Space Man laughed, "Thank you very much Tinman."

"Onwards! To find the treasure! Treasure! Treasure!"

And with a push of the button, the door swung open once more and Honeydew was able to make his way into the next room before the door closed again. Then Annahvi, and finally Xephos, but as he turned he saw the Tinman trying to make his way through the door.

"How's the Tinman gonna get through? Is he gonna be alright?" But then Xephos saw a lever on the opposite side of the wall, and with a simple flick, the door swung open again, and this time it stayed in place.

"Oh! I guess that opened the door as well."

"Oh! There we go!"

The Tinman quickly entered the room and began to jump up and down happily, rattling the room slightly.

"Come along, Mr. Tinman." Annahvi said, taking his hand.

"Are we just bringing him along for the ride?"

"I kind of like him," Annahvi shrugged, "He's nice and quite."

However, their conversation stopped when they came across two more signs which stood before an enormous wall of sand, gravel, and dirt.

"'The treasure is NOT behind this pile of rubble!'" Xephos read, "'Note to self: bring a shovel next time'. I have a shovel."

"You know what we must do," Honeydew said as they both took out their spades, "We must Diggy Diggy Hole!"

And so, the Space Man, Dwarf, and Elf began to dig their way through dirt, gavel, and sand, placing down torches now and then, until they finally reached the next room, which was surrounded by lava. It was a father strange room, with an entire wall covered in a lava flow. There was a small bridge on the opposite side of the room, and beside it was a wooden sign.

Xephos was just about to walk to the sign when Honeydew stopped him.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" he said frantically.

"What?"

"There's a pressure plate jus there, right in front of you."

"Oh okay...Um...'It hurts to be all alone' it says on that sign." Xephos read, just as the Tinman walked right in front of Xephos and onto the pressure plate in the middle of the ground. Instantly Honeydew backed away nervously, and Xephos simply laughed.

"Oh!" the Dwarf said, "Tinman's just stood on it!"

"Well he's still alive," the other man laughed, "He hasn't been catapulted into the lava."

"Nothing's blown up."

"I think we're alright." Annahvi said as she stood in front of the bridge, but furrowed her brow when she saw the several pressure pads. Carefully, she dropped a few stones on the first pressure pad, and suddenly an arrow shot out of a dispenser in the wall, and into the lava on the other side. "Oh...Oh there's arrows in there! I could use those."

"Is that _really_ a good idea?" Xephos said nervously as he watched his friend loot the first dispenser.

"Well think of it this way," the Elf explained, "I'm getting more arrows _and_ disarming the trap. It's just a win-win." Of course, the she was so busy talking that she failed to notice that her foot was on the pressure pad, and suddenly an arrow was fired right in front of her face. With a curse, she stumbled back nervously. But with lightning reflexes, Tinman grabbed Annahvi by her sleeve and brought her back to the steady ground.

"Uh...Thanks..."

"Brilliant." Honeydew said softly.

"If I step on this," Xephos said as he stood on the pressure plate on the platform, "Is that gonna stop them from shooting?" Honeydew carefully tested the first pressure plate, and when no arrows fired from any of the dispensers, and ran across to the other side of the room.

"Now you go next, Annahvi."

"Okay..." she said, somewhat nervously, but none the less she was able to run across the bridge and make it to safety.

"Right, now I need one of you to step on that," Xephos instructed, referring to the pressure plate on the other side of the room, before adding, "Stay there!"

"Okay." Honeydew said, and so Xephos was able to get across to the other side of the room without any arrows or lava related injuries.

"Right, now we need to get the Tinman over," Xephos said, but the moment that said man began crossing the bridge, Honeydew stepped off of the plate, letting an arrow get wedged into the robot's neck.

"Simon!" Xephos scolded. Of course, he wasn't the _only_ person disappointed in the Dwarf, for Tinman instantly punched Simon the moment he was on the other side.

"Oi!" Annahvi said, separating the two, "Calm down!"

"He hit me!" Honeydew said in shock, "He hit me! What the hell?"

"Man up, bitch." Xephos said as they continued down a set of stairs, where their next trial awaited.

"Isn't he supposed to follow the laws of robotics?" Honeydew asked, "Thou shalt not harm or by in action cause harm to a human being?"

"Well I guess technically you're a Dwarf," Xephos added, but when he looked up he could see a strange light that was slowly faded before glowing brighter once more. "There's a flashing light here, guys, and I'm a bit worried by it. I've never really seen anything like this before." Of course, the moment they turned the corner, they were able to see the source of fading light.

The entire room was just a long corridor, and ever few feet there was a line of Netherrack, and ever occasion fire would ignite before being extinguished for a small period of time.

"Oh my God," Honeydew groaned.

"Is this like a gauntlet?" Xephos asked, to which his Dwarven friend confirmed, "It's like a gauntlet."

"Oh, God," Honeydew said nervously, "This is _not_ gonna end well."

"Well is our only option to run through it?" Annahvi asked as she removed the arrow from the Tinman's neck.

"I think so," Xephos said as he and Honeydew stood right in front of the first wall of fire, "Are you read for the run?"

"I'm ready."

Of course, both Honeydew and Xephos had badly burned themselves in an attempt to run through the challenge but nonetheless, they survived long enough to reach the end of the hallway.

"Come on, Annahvi," Xephos called out, "We've got to get to the treasure."

"On second though," the Elf said, backing away, "I'm not sure treasure is really worth it. I'll just go meet you guys back at the bay."

"You can't quit now!" he scolded, but she just scoffed. "Try and stop me!" Instantly, she turned around and was about to leave through the doorway, but instead she bumped into PirateTinman, who was staring at her, not saying a word. "Please move, Mr. Tinman." she asked, but instead the Tinman grabbed Annahvi by the scruff of her shirt and placed her directly in front of the burning Netherrack.

"Please don't make me do this!" she said nervously, but Annahvi knew that she would just have to get it over with. Clenching her fists, she darted through the Netherrack, just barely avoiding the flames as they licked at her shins and feet. The intense heat filled her lungs and the horrid smell of smoke began to cloud her mind, but finally she reached the end of the corridor. Her legs quickly gave out beneath her, and she leaned against the wall, coughing.

"It's all right," Xephos said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You made it through."

"Never make...me do that...again." she said between breaths. They continued down the corridor where they came across a wall of cloth, and beside it was yet another sign.

_KILL IT  
>KILL IT<br>WITH FIRE!_

Of course, Xephos and Honeydew happily complied with the sign's orders and soon the wall of cloth was set ablaze, creating a large fire that cleared another tunnel, but some of the fire still remained.

"Oh fuck me..." Annahvi said as she sat down, "Yeah...I'm just going to lay down here."

But yet again, she looked up to see PirateTinman gazing at her.

"Look," Xephos said, "We'll clear out the fire, and then it'll be safe to go through."

"Alright," she said, as she lower her head into her arms on her knees.

As she heard the sounds of Honeydew and Xephos busy trying to extinguish the fires, her thoughts began to travel of and it was only then that she realized how scared she actually was.

"Goddammit," she trembled softly, causing Tinman to look down at her once more. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I-I'll be alright...I just need some fresh air."

"There we go!" Honeydew called out, causing both of them to look down the corridor, which was now clear of any sign of fire, but the smell of smoke was still wafting in the air.

"Good," she said softly, "Let's just get this over with."

They continued down a long stairway which lead to a small hallway, with both adjacent walls made of falling lava.

"Well okay, there's no...There's no pressure pads that I can see." Xephos said as he cautiously looked around the room, but when he reached the other end of the room he arched his brow in confusion. "Oh what is that - What does that even say?"

"'X-2'" Honeydew read, "'0/-='"

While his Dwarven friend was busy examining the strange sign at the doorway, he looked into the next room and he was filled with a sense of dread. At the door frame there were two pressure pads, and the entire floor of the room was covered in lava. There appeared to be two platforms in the middle of the room, and from there Xephos could see the entrance to the next room.

"There's a lot of er...lava in here." he said, "And two buttons - er pressure pads. Oh what is this going to do?" he said nervously as he and Honeydew stepped onto the pressure plates.

The moment they did so, a bridge of stone quickly stretched to the platform in the middle of the room, but the moment that Honeydew began to walk towards it, the bridge slid back into the platform they were standing on.

"Oh..." he said nervously, "So it's like a temporary bridge. Okay um...Annahvi, and you and Simon stand here and I'll go forward?"

"Sure..."

"Are you sure about this?" Honeydew asked as his friend began walking forward, "Do you actually trust me."

"Just _stay there_!" he laughed nervously, more directed to the Dwarf than the Elf, and quickly ran across the bridge and to the next platform, where there was another pressure plate. "Okay, there's a button here."

"How am_ I _supposed to get over?" Honeydew yelled.

"Uh...Well I'm standing on this one, so...does Tinman...is Tinman supposed to help you across? I guess that must be it."

"Could you stand here please?" he asked, and PirateTinman obediently complied, creating the bridge once more for Honeydew to cross over. "Okay," Xephos said as Honeydew joined him, "Now I guess you have to go to that one over there, cause I'm standing on this one here."

"Okay..." Honeydew said as he made his way to the next platform before yelling out once more. "But if you get off of that one...how are you supposed to get over?"

"I don't know! Are we missing something? Are we supposed to throw something on them?"

But no matter what the Space Man did, he was unable to weigh the pressure plate down. But as he was frantically trying to find something to activate the pressure plate, he saw as the bridge quickly formed from him to Honeydew, before disappearing. He looked up in confusion to see Honeydew standing on the pressure plate, but when he turned around he saw that both Annahvi and Tinman had left their position. "Hang on," Xephos instructed, "just stand on that; I can now walk across."

"Okay."

"Is it because you and Tinman have..." But as he was searching for the correct words to articulate, the bridge disappeared again.

"Oh this is a bit dodgy. Is it me standing on it?" He appeared to be correct, for when he stood on the plate, the bridges were formed, but the moment he stepped off, the bridges were gone. "I feel _very_ unsafe." he laughed nervously.

As Honeydew watched his friend being to panic, an idea began to form in his mind, and he stepped off of the plate.

"If I get off of this," he said before stepping back on, "And I stand on it..."

The bridge yet again formed.

"Okay, stay there!" Xephos instructed before he quickly raced across the thin bridge and to Honeydew on the second platform. However, his relief was cut short when he looked over and saw Annahvi and Tinman on the opposite side of the room. "Oh God, we're leaving you and Tinman behind!"

"What are we gonna do?" Honeydew asked, "How are we gonna get them back!"

"How to we get to the last one as well?" Xephos asked as he saw the hallway leading closer to the treasure, "Because surely there's no-"

However his rambling was cut short when Honeydew stepped on the pressure plate again, filling the gap between them and victory.

"Okay, stay there, Simon!" Xephos said, and with that he finally reached the other side of the room and saw to his surprise a hidden pressure plate. "Okay, yeah. Come across! Come across!"

The Dwarf quickly obeyed the order, hesitating for a moment to kill a nearby skeleton, and rejoined Xephos. But Xephos looked back to Annahvi and Tinman who were still on the other side of the room.

"Don't worry!" Xephos yelled, "There's bound to be some way to get you of here!"

"It's alright, guys!" Annahvi called out, "We'll be fine on our own!"

"We can't just leave you two here!"

"Don't worry!" she instructed, "You need to find a way out of here, and then you can get help!"

Xephos looked at them uneasily, but she continued on, "Trust me, Lewis! We'll be fine!"

"Come on, Lewis." Honeydew said as he shook his friend by the shoulder, "We've got to keep going." But he looked back one last time before calling out to Annahvi and Tinman one last time.

"We'll come back for you!"

And with that, the Elf watched as her friends disappeared from sight, leaving her with PirateTinman. She looked at her new friend for a moment before looking around. "Do you have any ideas to get out of here?"

Of course, he just remained silent.

Meanwhile, Xephos and Honeydew continued down the hallway, until they came across a strange room with black and red carpet that lead to a dark stairwell.

"Oh crickey!" he said as he examined the room ahead, "Where are we _now_?"

The entire room didn't even appear to be a room. It just looked like a never-ending maze. He went to the other room where Honeydew was in.

"What's up here?" he asked as he climbed up the stairs, but his answer was "Oh. My. God."

The room was completely empty, but one wall was made entirely of glass, which showed the overview of the maze below, along with an enormous malicious skull and several spawners that adorned the top of the maze. A sense of dread filled the two heroes as they realized that the maze was the only way to continue on, and they certainly couldn't turn back now.

"That's one hell of a view."

"A rectangular maze with spiders,"

"And zombies,"

"And Creepers,"

"And a really big skull at the end."

"He's got, like, golden teeth, though."

"Maybe Grimjaw the pirate had gold teeth," Honeydew suggested as they went back down the stairs, "Maybe that's his skull."

"I guess we'll find out," Xephos said as he followed him down the stairs. Going through the maze was the only way that they would be able to come back for Annahvi and PirateTinman, so Xephos knew that they couldn't back down now.


	24. Chapter 22

"Well, Isis," Annahvi sighed, "What do you think about this predicament?"

_"Well it's obviously impossible for both you and PirateTinman to cross to the other side of the room."_

"Do you think that there's another way around this room?"

_"I believe your friend has an idea."_

Annahvi turned her head to face Tinman and saw that his gaze was at a small set of stairs that traveled down along the wall. "How the heck did we miss that...?" she mumbled softly before beginning to carefully climb down until they reached the bottom which lead to a small corridor.

"Well shit." she laughed in disbelief. And to think that she and her friends could have avoided the entire puzzle if they simply bothered to explore these stairs. And so she and Tinman headed down the corridor, ready for whatever challenges awaited them.

Annahvi looked up at Tinman before looking to her left to see Isis. Well at least a robot wouldn't make any biased assumptions if she spoke out loud.

"Isis, do you know how much farther away we are from the treasure?"

_"I'm afraid that I can't tell. However, I can sense that your friends are far away."_

"Well I hope they're alright..." she mumbled softly. As they continued down the corridors, Annahvi realized that due to the lack of lava and fire, it was slowly becoming darker and darker. "Jeez, I can barely see my hand in front of my face. Tinman, do you have some sort of built-in flashlight or lantern?"

They had stopped walking and he turned to her, not saying anything.

"I guess that's a no, well I guess you're built with night-vision."

_"Annahvi," _Isis said, almost reluctantly, _"I can try and help you to see in this darkness. But you must follow everything I say, and don't disobey me."_

"Okay." the Elf spoke eagerly, "Sure!"

_"First, do you have the book on your person?"_

"Of course!" Annahvi said, revealing the book from her cloak and showing it to Isis.

_"Great! Turn to Chapter III, page 138."_

"Jeez," Annahvi sighed as she flipped through the pages, "You sound like some stingy professor."

_"Well I'm really the only one who can teach you these things, so don't be ungrateful."_

Annahvi chuckled as Isis pouted mockingly before finally reaching the desired page and the first thing she noticed was the illustration of a person standing perfectly vertical with his arms extended and his hands cupped together.

_"I can tell that now isn't the time to go through every minute detail, so just take that position, close your eyes, and I'll guide you through it."_

She looked up at Isis skeptically, but didn't ask any questions, and simply did as she was told. With her eyes closed, she was now in complete darkness. Hopefully Tinman would wait for her.

_"Now I need you to stay calm, this will only last for a second, and try to focus on the energies around us."_

Annahvi furrowed her brow in confusion, but as she stayed perfectly still, the sounds around her began to blend into a faded buzz. Perhaps it was due to standing in place for so long, but a slight numbness started to grow from her feet up, and her fingers were growing cold. "Um...Isis?"

_"Don't worry, it's almost done."_

A sense of dread began to fill her mind, but despite how afraid she was to agree with Isis, she was even more terrified to find out what would happen if she disagreed. So she simply stood perfectly still, arms stretched out, and body slowly growing numb.

_"Okay, it's safe to open your eyes now."_

Hesitantly, Annahvi cracked her eyes open and the first thing she noticed was beams of light leading to a small little sphere in her hands. It was no bigger than the size of a pea, but it still glowed bright enough to provide light, but not too bright as to overwhelm her. "Isis," she laughed, "What the heck is this?"

_"Condensed energy." _the spirit explained, _"Like how a flame or electricity can provide light, the spiritual energies can do the exact same. Come now, we'd better go and find a way to find your friends."_

All the rest of the way the light stayed right beside Annahvi, and she took advantage of the peace and quite by reading through the book. It appeared to explain the world in a way that would appear preposterous at first, but held an explanation for every counterclaim that could be thought. It discussed several different plants, different worlds, even different realities and how to survive in them. A manual how to master the most basic energies that surrounded the everyday man, and ways to control forces great enough to split the world in two. It was a guide to a strange new truth that she had never realized until now. "So how old is this book anyway?"

_"Far older than me and you, that's for certain."_

It was only moments later that they reached the end to the corridor, and at the end was a small iron door that lead into side of the next room, decorated with torches and solid gold blocks.

"Is this it?" she asked to no one in particular, but honesty they knew the answer was yes. She followed up the stairs until her eyes rested upon a large chest, and she happily placed her hands on the lid, but just as she was about to open it, she heard footsteps and it was more than one person.

"Well bugger me!" a familiar Dwarf said, "I didn't even realize..."

"Simon! Lewis!" Annahvi cheered eagerly as she turned around and smiled brightly as the Space Man and Dwarf just stared at her and Tinman, completely thunderstruck.

"How did you get here before us?!"

"There was a set of stairs back at the lava puzzle."

"Are you kidding me?!" Honeydew groaned, "Oh come on!"

But they didn't appear to be too disheartened, because Xephos and Honeydew eagerly turned to the chest that was in the center of the room. The Space Man placed his hands on the top of the lid and opened the chest, revealing a single button and record.

"What?!" Xephos yelled, "There's a button and a musical disk! Annahvi, did you take the treasure?!"

"I swear I didn't," Annahvi said, but before she could say anything else, her two friends continued to look around the room.

"Not even a Holy Disc!" Xephos said as he began to mine away at the gold blocks, "I guess we can, like, ninja these gold teeth.

"Gold teeth?" Annahvi asked, "What the hell have you two been up to?"

"You want to know?!" Honeydew said, "Lewis and I were busy running around a flippin' maze, getting attacked by spiders and ghasts and all sorts of horrible things, so we could get into this bloody skull and find some goddamned treasure!"

"Calm down, Simon." Xephos huffed, it was obvious that he was equally enraged. But as Honeydew was pacing around frantically, Xephos watched as Tinman reached into the chest and took out the record.

"Can he play the record?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Uh...he's holding it. The thing is we couldn't really communicate with him before, do you remember? He was talking in binary."

"He's gonna bend over and slip it between his butt-cheeks." Honeydew suggested, receiving a laugh from Xephos and a retching sound from Annahvi. "I really didn't need to hear that." Unfortunately, the jokes quickly turned into horror as they saw that Tinman _was_ indeed crouching over, slightly.

"Oh my God, he is as well," Honeydew said, "OH DON'T LOOK! TURN AWAY! DON'T LOOK! DON'T LOOK!"

"Oh for crying out loud." Annahvi groaned as she and her friends quickly looked at the nearby wall.

"Can we look now?" Xephos

"You go first."

They turned back to the robotic pirate and to their relief the record was no longer in his hands. As they moved away from the wall, Tinman began to whirr and hum softly before he turned to the wall behind him and began to show a projection.

"Wait! It's playing something! It's like a recording."

"So what is this," Xephos asked "Like, security camera footage or something? Is this from Tinman?"

They watched the screen that appeared to show the exact same room, but as the recording continued, they saw a familiar pirate climb up the stairs and to the chest. "It's Jock!" Honeydew said, "And he's gone bad!"

"He's goddamned taken our treasure! Son of a bitch!"

_"Arr, what have we here?"_ Jock said as he took the map fragment in his hands, laughing evilly as he ran back down the stairs.

"Right, so he's got the map fragment, okay." Xephos relapsed, "So we need to head back to the bay and, um, put him to the sword, maybe?"

"Maybe," Honeydew shrugged.

"Have we got to use this button on something? Is that the real challenge? Ah, we have to use the button on something."

"Something to open."

"Well going back the way Tinman and I came is a waste of time," Annahvi said, "We could go back to the start, but we wouldn't be able to get back up to the surface."

As she was explaining this to her friends, Xephos had taken the button in his hands and began to look around the room, when his eyes spotted an iron door hidden in the back wall. "Oh! My God, there's a door, and I guess the button is for the door. Okay, cool!"

But unfortunately as Xephos entered the narrow hallway, he realized that it was completely dark.

"Do you want the way, Simon? It's a little bit dark and I don't have any torches still."

"Little bloody dark," Honeydew mocked as he took the lead and began placing down torches every now and then, with Xephos, Annahvi and Tinman following behind.

"So did you and Tinman make it through alright?" the Space Man asked

"Yeah," she answered casually, "The staircase lead to a rather long corridor, but we didn't come across any monsters or traps."

"Good to hear. Why do you get to take the easy road while Simon and I have to fight off waves of monsters and complete puzzles?"

"I guess it's just karma." she laughed, but she was quickly silence when she practically walked right into Honeydew.

"There's a sign and some cotton, or whatever."

"'You know what this means...'?" Xephos read out as Honeydew began to apart the wool.

"What's in the room ahead, guys?" Annahvi asked, almost a little impatiently.

The following room was quite a puzzle. It was very large, and the walls were adorned with torches. A fairly high ceiling, and in the middle of the room was a column of sand. But there were no doors or windows, or any sign to go further.

"What the heck...?"

"Some...Some sand; what's this about?" Honeydew asked as he began to slowly take away the sand, only to have more fall down in it's place. "Huh? Why do I get the feeling that I'm probably not doing some too clever?" Xephos laughed as he watched his Dwarven friend continue to remove loads of the infinite supply of sand, but as his eyes scanned across the room they fell onto a large strip of white wool stretched from the floor to the ceiling. And this his mind went back to the sign perviously. _You know what this means... _"Do we have to light this stuff?" he suggested as he approached the wool. Of course, he didn't wait for a response and without second-guessing, set the wool on fire. It was only then that he saw the fatal error of his actions, as he realized the entire ceiling of the room was made of black wool.

"Oh...Simon?"

"What?"

"I think we should probably get out of this room."

"Lewis," Annahvi said nervously as she stared up at the burning ceiling, "What the hell did you do?"

"Quick! Quick! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The three of them quickly hurried back to the hallway, shoving and screaming, until they were certain they were safe from the fires.

"Is it all falling down?" Xephos said as he watched the room slowly begin to fill with sand. "It's all falling down."

"Jesus," Annahvi sighed as they slowly made their back into the room. By that time, the ceiling had been completely burned away, and in its place was an endless sea of sand. They watched as the sand continued to fall, but as it did it slowly revealed to be a set of stairs.

"What the dickens is going on?" Honeydew asked as he looked up at the growing staircase.

"It's a fall-y drop...fall-y staircase."

"Well I suppose this could be way worse," Annahvi said as they began to slowly climb up. The journey took a decent amount of time, considering the rate it took for the wool to completely burn away, allowing the sand to fall, but soon they could see the top of the stairs.

"Let's get the _heck_ out of here!" Honeydew said as he began to race up to the top, "Let's get the flock out of here!"

"Yeah," Xephos said as they reached the top and began to dig through the hill of sand. "I am sick of this damn tomb."

"Look's like we're going to have to work for our freedom." Annahvi sighed as she examined the massive hill. But it was only seconds later that Honeydew managed to break through the hill, revealing the light blue sky above. "Sunlight!" Xephos cheered. The sight of daylight only fueled the heroes further as they continued to remove more and more sand, revealing stairs that were made of sandstone. Finally, however, they had reached the surface and were out in the open air.

"Oh my goodness." Xephos sighed as he looked around from the strange building they stood on, "Where on earth are we?"

"We are in a...desert." Honeydew answered as he and Tinman climbed up the stairs, "That would explain all the sand, anyway."

The Space Man chuckled at his answered before passing through a large archway, and from where he stood there was a set of stairs that led down to a road paved with yellowed stone, which lead into a forest. "There's something over there. Like a kind of a building."

"Do you think it leads back to the bay?" Annahvi asked as she looked out into the forest. Xephos turned to her and shrugged in confusion, and as she and Honeydew traveled down the stairs he examined the strange building he and his friends had emerged from. "Oh wow. Look were we came out from." His eyes began to wander over the landscape around him, but as he looked past a large hill of sand not to far from them, he was able to make out a pale face with bright red eyes. "Woah Christ!" he yelled as he backed away, "Israphel's over there! Behind that fucking sand over there!"

"Really?!" Annahvi said eagerly, "Well then let's go and get him!"

"Where? Where?" Honeydew asked frantically.

"Over there!" he pointed, "Behind that sand thing! Fucking hell that scared the shit out of me! Oh God!" He couldn't help but start laughing, but Annahvi just stared at him. "Where?" Honeydew continued, "I can't see him. Are you sure?"

"Yes! Ugh, God, Simon. I think we're going to have to go hunt him."

"Gladly," Annahvi chuckled as she took her bow in one hand. Xephos quickly joined them, a bow in his hands as well, and his eyes spotted Israphel hop up from his spot and over the hill for a brief second. "Look there! There!"

"What?!"

"Over there! Did you not see?"

"Are you seeing things?" Honeydew said, somewhat concerned, "It's the pressure from being underground from being in that...?" But before the Dwarf could finish his sentence, the sky suddenly turned a dark grey-blue and rain instantly began to fall right in front of their very eyes, slowly approaching them. "Whoa! What the hell?! What the heck happened?!"

"A flash flood?" Annahvi suggested with a shrug. "And it's getting dark all of a sudden," Xephos added as he looked up to the sky, "Or is it just the-the rainstorm?" He looked up to his friends for an answer, but his eyes were instantly drawn to a strange figure in the distance. "Oh my God! What is that over there?!"

"Is that...Is that a giant dragon?" Honeydew asked.

"I think so,"

"Oh my God! Okay! Okay!" We're going over to the dragon, guys." Honeydew instructed as he ran off to the enormous stone dragon, "We're going over to the dragon right now! I don't care about no map fragments. Balls to that! I'm checking out this dragon!"

"Honeydew, are you crazy?!" Annahvi yelled as they chased after him in the pouring rain, "It's getting dark, it's raining, and we have no idea where we are!"

Of course the Dwarf didn't hear her, and if he did, he showed no signs of agreeing, as he only ran faster and faster until the four of them were on a hill where they could get a good view of the strange stone monument.

"What the hell is this?" Annahvi gasped as she caught up with her friends. From far away, it would appear to be a stone monument or statue, but it was only then that they realized how striking the dragon was. It reached as high as the heavens and stretched across from one end of the land to the next. It's limbs were carved out of what appeared to be sandstone, spikes traveled down it's spine, two long horns jutted out from it's skull, magma flowed from it's gaping maw, and it appeared as if there was a set of catwalks that surrounded the dragon's neck.

"What the hell is going on with this weather as well?" Xephos asked, "It's like the world is ending."

"I don't know!" Honeydew wailed, "I'm scared!"

One moment sky was slowly fading from orange to a deep blue, and then in a flash the entire world was lit up for a brief second before everything went dark once more. A clap of thunder bellowed from the sky above and shook the heroes to their waterlogged bones. "Woah!" Honeydew panicked, "Woah! Did you see that?"

"Oh, flippin' heck, we need to get into shelter!" Xephos groaned. His eyes began to scan the horizon frantically when they saw a strange building on the sea. "There's - There's that...There's that little building over there. I think we should go to that little building."

"I don't know!" Annahvi yelled sarcastically, "I'm quite enjoying the weather!"

The sky was slowly growing darker and darker, making the environment around them become an increasingly dangerous complication. Xephos looked down from the steep hill they were standing on and was able to just barely see a small pool of water. "How do we get off this - I can't see where I'm going! There's some water down here." Unfortunately, the Space Man misjudged the distance between him and the small pond, and instead hit the ground with a painful thud. "Ow ow, I'm okay." he said as he picked himself back up, "I'm okay! Quick, guys, head for cover!"

With the rain pelting against their backs and the sound of thunder rolling across the land, the four of them stumbled to the strange building on the water, which was actually much larger than anticipated - it was at least two stories high, made of sandstone, and had a walkway adorned with torches that started from the land and leaded to the entrance of the building itself.

The inside of the building was also completely sandstone, and in the middle of the room was a large fountain, lit with lanterns and with water flowing down to a small trench underneath. There were two staircases, one on each side of the room, and to the left of the heroes was a small chest with a sign that hung above.

_Read Prof. Grizwald's Note_

"Professor Grizwald?!" Honeydew screeched, "What?!" Curiously, Xephos opened the chest, and instantly he was met with the disgusting smell of must and the source was an enormous pile of bones decorated with ash, bonemeal, and a notebook. Both the Space Man and Dwarf instantly retched at the sight and smell, but as Honeydew continued looking around and skimming through the book, Xephos decided to go and explore the second floor.

Despite having a massive hole in the floor, the second level was just as grandiose as the first, with an enormous throne in the middle of the room and large openings that allowed people to see as far as the horizon if they desired. He looked to the back wall and when he approached the massive windows, he saw that there was a ledge just wide enough for him to stand on, which allowed him to just barely make out a strange figure that lied underneath the ocean waters. "The hell is all this stuff up here?! Simon come upstairs!"

As the Dwarf climbed up the stairs to join his friend, Annahvi had propped herself up against the wall, sitting beside Isis. As they sat in silence, the Elf turned her attention to the sandstone floors before picking up a chunk of the building that had eroded away into a small rock.

"So how do I control these things?"

_"Well you don't control them directly," _Isis corrected, _"You control the energy inside."_

"Uh-huh. And what does this energy feel like?" she said softly, as to not gain the attention of her fellow adventurers.

_"It's hard to explain in physical terms, but the energy emits heat and you can feel sort of force."_

She arched her brow in confusion before examining the stone in her hand before closing her eyes and exhaling deeply.

_"Try not to think of visual appearance," _the spirit suggested, _"You can feel the forces around us, even if you don't know it. But that's common, because it's influence is rather subtle."_

Despite that fact that her eyes were closed, she could almost visualize the energies that surrounded her and Isis. Waves of color and sounds, each an individual spirit that intertwined together. It felt as though she had left the physical world had now entered an atmosphere of constantly changing movement. She squeezed her hand that contained the stone and this time she felt a strange gust of heat, slipping past her fingers, as if her hand was over a fire; a small amber color that encircled the sandstone in her hand. She chased after the amber, but whichever way she ran it would go the opposite.

_"You can't obtain it by sheer force," _she heard Isis say, her voice now an echo, _"You have to have control."_

Annahvi stumbled as she abruptly stopped running and watched as the small little glow stopped moving. She looked at it curiously as it simply bobbed up and down, before slowly walking forward. It jerked away, as if by magnetic force, but when Annahvi took another step, it showed no intention of fleeing. Finally, she was able to clasp her hands around the glowing energy.

When Annahvi opened her eyes, she instantly saw the sandstone rock, but it was now floating in the palm of her hand. "All this just for telekinesis." she chuckled. It wavered at it hovered in her hands, before steadying once more.

_"It's_ _all about control,"_ Isis reminded the Elf, _"If you lose focus, you'll lose control of everything."_

_BOOM!_

An explosion from above shook the temple to its core, and from afar Annahvi heard Xephos and Honeydew screaming accompanied by an audible splash. Without warning, the sandstone pebble that was once floating in her hand how now become a deadly projectile and launched itself at a nearby wall, creating a decent chip in the wall and destroying itself in the process. "Oh, so that's what you mean."

Another explosion followed the previous and suddenly a horrible Creeper began climbing down the stairs and looming in the distance.

"Fuckin' hell." Annahvi swore as she grabbed her bow and began to fire away at the monster.

"I just killed about fifty Creepers!" Honeydew laughed as he reached the first level of the temple.

"There's a sign that says 'Do not enter by order of Verigan Antioch'." Xephos yelled as he approached the temple, "And there's another sign down here that says 'I said "Do not enter" Turn back now! So we're just, like, idling in here."

"Um, guys, I've also found a sign." Honeydew called out to his friends as he stood behind the enormous fountain in the middle of the room, "'Tomb of the Dark Pharaoh Lehparsi'."

The Space Man and Elf joined their Dwarven friend in curiosity behind the fountain, and the first thing they saw was a wall of obsidian with four signs nailed into the wall. "'Do Not Enter Quarantined Area Off-Limits' 'No Entry By Order Of High Templar Verigan Antioch." Xephos read, "Wow...okay. For Christ."

"I probably shouldn't be picking at it then." Honeydew joked as he tapped agains the obsidian with his pickaxe. Xephos laughed nervously as he looked up to the damaged ceiling before Honeydew called out once more as a group of the undead began to pursue him. "Oh my God! Guys! Guys!"

"Do you reckon' these were like..." Xephos began, but he slowly began to trail off, "I don't even want to think where they're from. Probably Grizwald's time."

"I DON'T LIKE THIS ANYMORE!" Honeydew wailed as a few zombie fell into the first floor and began chasing after Xephos. "Don't worry," Annahvi said as she shot another arrow, "We can take them."

"I reckon we should dick this obsidian out and go down." Xephos suggested, "Just, let's just go in there. 'Cause it looks kind of safe. It can't be...There's must be, like...I just need some place secure. Can you break down that obsidian."

"So we're taking refuge from all of these things?" Honeydew asked as he began to pick at the obsidian wall.

"I don't know if we should, actually." his friend said hesitantly.

"For Christ sake," Annahvi groaned as she looked out the window, "Make up your mind." However, she was os busy looking out into the darkness that she failed to notice the horde of skeletons that charged into the room and began firing at the three heroes.

"This is not an enjoyable evening." Xephos groaned as they cleared out the room of enemies. "I am not having a good time!"

"You don't often spend your evenings out in uh...a temple willed with ominously sealed things with the undead raining down from the sky." Honeydew asked as a Zombie fell from the second floor right in front of Xephos. "You had to say raining." Annahvi groaned as she quickly killed it.


	25. Chapter 23

"Why are they falling out of this place?!" Xephos panicked as he looked up at the holes in the ceiling. "What's going on?"

"It's dark above us," Honeydew answered,

"It's not that dark."

"What do you mean it's not that dark?! Are you kidding me? It's bloody black out there, lad! It's bloody black!"

"I don't want to be here anymore. I think we should just brave the outdoors, and try and head back along the road," Xephos suggested as he walked out of the temple, "I mean, Tinman's bloody left us. I don't know where he's gone. Did he just stick on that road? Instead of, like-"

"Oh God," Honeydew groaned as he looked out into the horizon, "Look, there's a load of Creepers over there."

With nothing else to do, they began to circle around the temple, half out of curiosity, half out of boredom, until the sun finally began to break through the night sky, bathing the terrain with light.

"So what are we actually going to do about this place?" Xephos asked as they began killing off the few monsters that had yet to die in the sunlight.

"Well my Dwarven instincts - Hello! I'm Dwarven instincts - They want me to crack open the tomb and dive inside and just rob it of all of its treasure."

"And the other instincts?"

"They say that there's no way I'm going near that thing. It's going to be full of horrible things that want to kill me and eat my eyeballs. I get the feeling we're not supposed to be here, anyway."

"You might have a point," Xephos admitted as he looked out into the forest, "Did you actually see where Tinman went, by the way?"

"Over there! Point."

Honeydew chuckled at his own joke, but Xephos only chuckled before he walked off to where the Dwarf had pointed. "Let's go back towards the thing that we came out..." Little did he know that there was a Creeper right behind him.

"Lewis!" Honeydew screamed as it hissed ominously before exploding as the Space Man continued to walk away to examine a Creeper's body lying in the grass. "Is that a dead Creeper." He turned to his friends in confusion as they just stared at him.

"There was a Creeper right behind you," Honeydew laughed nervously, "Oh this place! It's so dangerous!"

"See look here!" Xephos continued as he saw the road, "Here! Here! This path! Look,"

"Ah..." Annahvi and Honeydew said in unison.

"That must be the way back towards the, uh, where we came out of that tomb place, so _this_ must be the way back. Walk along this yellow wool road."

To this, Honeydew responded by singing 'Follow the Yellow Wool Road' rather off-key. "Brilliant," Annahvi chuckled as they reached the end of the path. The road had led them to the shore of land, and in the distance Xephos was able to make out a few ships. "There's a ruined ship over there." he pointed out.

"Oh!" Honeydew said, pushing a sheep out of the way and headed towards the shore, "Oh my God are we at BBQ Bay again? Oh please let it be BBQ Bay!"

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" Xephos said as they reached a small dock with a large truck under a sign. "Cutters Key" the three of them read, and inside of the chest were several small rafts. "Alright," Xephos said as they placed their rafts in the water, "Back to BBQ Bay."

"I'm gonna give that Jock a piece of my mind." Annahvi grumbled angrily, making her friends chuckle. "Oh God," Xephos said as he looked at one of the ships, "It looks like Isabel's ship is in port, guys. That back-sailed one?"

"Oh! Isa-" Honeydew began but then paused, "Oh she's probably not going to be happy; we lost Tinman. Wasn't he, like,..."

"Important to her in some way." the Space Man finished. However, the thought was abandoned once they reached the docks of BBQ Bay.

"Ah," Honeydew sighed, "It's good to be back in BBQ Bay."

"It is," Xephos agreed, "We've been away too long, guys. We've been away for far too long."

And from a distance, they could vaguely hear the shouting of the pirates they had only recently met. "Dread Pirate, ye cannot lay claim to Grimjaw's sunken booty! By rights, it is mine and Jock's to claim!"

"Yet I am the only one who can salvage it!"

"It sounds like they're arguing about something." Xephos mumbled.

"Treasure," Honeydew explained, "They're talkin' about treasure., Lewis."

"I just noticed Tinman's over there, though." Xephos noted as he looked up on one of the upper levels of the Bay.

"Oh what?" Honeydew asked, obviously shocked, "Where?! He's always one step ahead of us, isn't he?"

"He's up here," He lead them up a nearby flight of stairs to Tinman, but the first thing they saw when they reached the top of the stairs was a Creeper, swimming upstream. "Oh! My goodness, there's a Creeper there!"

"Hello Mr. Creeper!" Honeydew said, in a rather high voice, as she shot a few arrows at the monster, knocking it back into the sea. "He's gone for a swim."

"Quite!" they heard Isabel shout, "Or I'll cut yer gizzard out!"

"I'm not quite sure I know what a gizzard is. Is it a throat?"

"I think it's like your spleen or something."

"You're spleen? Oh goodness! I-I'm not quite sure I know what a spleen is, but it's probably an inconvenience to have it cut out."

While Xephos and Honeydew were busy discussing the removal of important organs, they walked right up to PirateTinman, who was more than elated to see the three heroes, where he lead them to another flight of stairs that lead to the arguing buccaneers.

"I'll tell you one thing..." Isabel began to say, but paused and smiled brightly when she saw her first mate finally. "Ah, Mate Tinman!"

"Yeah," Annahvi said, turning to the reunited pirates, "Now, could you help- WHAT?!"

Gold ingots, gold helmets, gold chest plates, a golden apple, golden legging, everything that was made of gold, PirateTinman was giving to Isabel. "Oh, the booty!" she laughed, "Right from under their noses? Hahaha, well done!"

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Are you shitting me?!" Annahvi screamed, "Com'ere ya cheating robot bastard!"

"Hold on!" Xephos said as he grabbed her by the scruff of her cloak, "Er? Um...I guess it doesn't matter; we don't need treasure, we just want the map."

"That's no excuse for using us!" she snapped back before walking right up to Tinman and kicking him in the shin. Obviously, this backfired.

"You didn't really think that through, did you?"

"OW! Fucking piece of shit!" Annahvi grumbled as she seethed angrily.

"Tinman," Isabel said, disregarding the swearing Elf, "Give the Dwarf and map fragment, and we can be away. With these riches, we can tour..."

"Isabel..." Honeydew said, deflated, "I thought we had something."

But before the female pirate could respond, her first man began to let out a stream of sounds and numbers. Isabel's brow began to furrow in confusion and disbelief.

"What? Jock?" Tinman nodded. "No! Jock took it?!"

"Nae!" Angus yelled, facing a nearby plant, "It cannae be true! Yer lyin!"

"Jock is an old friend, despite our rivalry. We can't know for sure he has been corrupted! He may just have stumbled upon the treasure, so...we must find evidence! He may have hidden the map up here, so Tinman and I will search the bay.

"Spacker!" Angus yelled, surprisingly able to face the undead Dwarf, "Tae me side! We need to get tae the mozzie on the double!"

"What does that mean?" Xephos laughed as he watched the two men run down the stairs.

"Those two will search the other ships," Isabel continued, "You three must find Jock in his ship! Distract him, and search for the map."

"Which ship is Jock's?" Xephos and Honeydew asked, simultaneously.

"Jock's ship operates at a sub-level of the marine environment. Therefore we call it,...an 'underwater ship'. And heroes...be careful."

"Okay," Xephos said, "Let's be gettin' on with this, shall we?" He headed up the stairs and looked over the edge of the bay to see the top of the underwater ship peeking out of the sea. "So I guess it's this submarine. Um, we might actually have to go in downstairs, to get to it." Xephos said as he climbed down the stairs and back outside, "I don't think we want to jump off the top. We'll just head down the normal way."

And of course, after he said this they caught a glimpse of Honeydew as he fell down to the ocean.

"Guess what I just did!" Honeydew yelled when he surfaced.

"Brilliant," Xephos chuckled before looking at Annahvi jokingly, "Ladies first."

She rolled her eyes and nudged him ahead, "Come on, you goof." They were quick to make the decent into the ocean, and the moment they did so Xephos was able to faintly see Jock's title through the stone. "Oh look, there he is!" he pointed out as they reached the top of the underwater ship, "He is in there, okay. Get yourself ready. I can see his nameplate."

"What's this?" Honeydew asked in confusion as they looked at a strange little metal door, "What's this thing?"

"Is this like the periscope on the top of the submarine?" Xephos suggested as he looked around, "How do we get in?" He grabbed the valve on the top of the strange door and twisted until it clicked, and lifted the door up, revealing a set of ladders. "Oh it's a hatch! Get your sword ready, Simon, I do not trust him. Descend."

The underwater ship was more elegant than had been expected, with lush red carpets and walls lined with books. There was a set of stairs that lead to an upper room, and a door on each side of the stairs, and by one of the doors was Jock.

"Please heroes," he begged, "Don't harm me! You must listen! That woman be evil, she not be called the Dread Pirate for nothing."

"I don't doubt that," Annahvi grumbled, receiving a quick jab from Honeydew.

"Her metal shipmate probably stole the map and framed me."

The three of them looked at each other, conflicted. "I-I don't know who to trust." Honeydew said uneasily as he looked around the ship.

"What are we doing here?" Xephos added, "Are we, like, searching for evidence? Um..."

"We are; we should be."

"Umm okay, look." he sighed as his eyes scanned around, "I'll just...I'll have a look around."

Annahvi watched as Xephos left with Honeydew to examine the ship, leaving her with Jock.

"So..." she shift her eyes back and forth and fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Arg, las." Jock said to her, "Ya have ta believe me! I'm a man of my word, didn't I help you three find the Dread Pirate in the first place?"

"Well...That's true." Annahvi, her hands still clutching her bow.

"She's a thief and a traitor! I wouldn't do any thing ta harm ya."

She looked up at the pirate, and from the look in his eyes she saw that he was either a magnificent liar, or an honest sap. She sighed and put away her bow before looking around his ship.

"Do you have any proof that Isabel is evil?" Honeydew asked as he returned from looking around. But as he looked at Jock his eyes looked up to a small iron door that the pirate was standing in front of. "What's behind that door there, fella me lad?" he asked suspiciously as Xephos joined them before going off once more. Jock's only response to the Dwarf was a nervous wince as he looked away.

"Whatcha hidin?"

"Down there just be hard tack and bilging gear. Nothing of interest." But the moment he was finished speaking, the door swung open with a click and they could hear Xephos call out. "I just pulled a lever! Did that do anything?"

"It opened the door."

"Oh did it?" the Space Man asked, in mock surprise, "I'm getting more and more suspicious now."

"But apparently, Lewis, there's nothing down there apart from hard tack and bilging gear."

"Do you mind if we take a look?" he asked as he face the man.

"It's wet in there," Jock stammered, "Yo-You wouldn't like it."

But with high suspicions, Honeydew took a feather in his hand and slapped him. "Oh! You're tickling him with a feather?" Xephos laughed as the pirate flinched away from the Dwarf, revealing the open door.

"That got him out of the way! Quick!" Honeydew yelled as he tried to get through the doorway, but just as he reached the frame Jock pushed the Dwarf away and stood firmly once more.

"Ah balls to it," Annahvi sighed as she shoved the pirate away from the door and stormed past with Xephos and Honeydew behind. "Oi!" they heard Jock yell as they reached the next room with a tiny hatch.

"Oh..." he laughed nervously, "What's this? I didn't know this was here..."

Without thinking, Xephos climbed down and began to slowly descend down, but as he looked down to see an endless abyss, he panicked and began climbing up, "Oh god! There's a hole! Guys, there's a dark, terribly long hole."

Simon, without thinking, joined his friend down but once he made the mistake of looking down he clung to the ladder rungs nervously, just as Annahvi began to climb down.

"Do you have any torches?" Xephos asked his friends.

"I have...I have some torches. Oh God!" Honeydew fumbled around for a few minutes before placing down a torch on the opposite wall and slowly climbing downwards, placing down another torch ever so often.

"This is _far_ too deep to be part of the submarine!" the Space Man said as they finally reached the bottom of the ladders, which lead to a large open room in complete darkness, and despite the limited light the torches provided, the three of them were able to see that they stood on a fairly small platform surrounded by lava, and they could _clearly_ make out an obsidian portal on the opposite side of the room.

"Goddammit," Xephos spat, "He tricked us! Right, let's get him!"

"Let's take care of him!" Honeydew cheered as they began climbing up the ladders "Let's do him in, guys! Let's do..."

"Oh shit."

Just as Xephos was beginning to climb up the ladders to the hatch, they were able to see lava slowly climbing down the walls. headed right for them. "Okay, let's not." Xephos said as he saw a zombie clawing for Honeydew, who was now quickly retreating.

"Zombies!" the Dwarf shrieked as he quickly killed the monster and pushed it back into the water.

"What are we going to do?!" Xephos panicked as he looked back up to the slowly proceeding lava.

"Move forward!" Honeydew urged as he jumped off the platform, "Move into the water!" Yet as he began to swim to the other side of the room, another zombie slowly rose to the surface and Xephos shrieked in horror before killing the reanimated horror and joining his friend in the water.

"Oh God," Honeydew said nervously, "Look, we - Go towards the portal! Go towards the portal!"

"Okay," Xephos stammered, killing another zombie, "Are just going to destroy this? How are we going to get back out, though?"

"Oh god I don't know," Honeydew said as he struggled to tread water, "It's dark in the water!"

Xephos and Annahvi sighed in relief as they finally reached the portal and stood on firm ground once more, but their Dwarven friend was quick to nervously speak. "There's a load of zombie behind you."

"Okay,"

"Um...I think it might be safer in the portal than out here." Honeydew suggested as he tried his best to fend off the enemies, but was scratched by one of the zombies. "Ow! Ya little bugger!" And as he and Annahvi were busy trying to kill the wave of the undead, realization struck Xephos. "We could actually go into the portal."

"Do you think it'll work this time?" Annahvi asked as they finished off the remaining monsters, "I mean, the last times we tried it didn't work."

"We could put an end to Israphel once and for all!"

"We could kill him," Honeydew pieced together, "We could rescue Daisy, we don't have to bother with this...this map fragment nonsense. We could just go in there!"

"But we've normally been just destroying these things haven't we?" Xephos pointed out, "'Cause we couldn't go through them. But...I assume we can go through it. Is it a good idea though, that's the question."

"Well when you assume," Annahvi said as she fired a few more arrows, "You make an ass out of you and me."

"Well what do you think?" Honeydew asked in all seriousness as he faced Xephos, "Do you think-"

"Zombie!" Xephos yelled, just as the monster began clawing at the Dwarf once more.

"AH! Ya little shithead!" he swore, kicking the zombie into the water, "COM'ERE!"

But as he tried to attack the corpse, another zombie rose from the waters and began to slowly lurch forward. "I think we should just risk the portal!" Xephos said as he slashed at the zombie, hitting Honeydew in the process, "Okay, let's go! Let's go through the portal! We can handle this!"

The Space Man and Dwarf shouted and cheered in agreement as they slowly stepped through the portal, but Annahvi looked out to the lava, her face painted with conflicting thoughts. "But what about Jock?" she asked, "We can't just let him go!"

"Annahvi," Xephos scolded, "Now isn't the time to be brave! Now is the time to be sensible!" She looked up at him defiantly before glancing back at the oncoming horde of zombies once again.

Xephos' vision began to slowly fill with a purple haze and the world around him was slowly beginning to spin around and by now the zombies were approaching closer and closer until they clawed at the platform and stood upright, drenched to the bone. "Shit," Annahvi hissed as she gripped her bow, "Can't I just fight them all?" But as she looked back at the soulless eyes of the living dead, she felt something grab her arm.

She looked up to see Xephos had blindly reached out took hold of her arm. Whether she was are of it or not, he could tell that there was a glimmer of fear in her, and that only made his grip tighten. "I'm not going to just leave you here to fight by yourself," he said, his eyes able to show that he intended to stay true to that claim. Annahvi took one last glance and the zombies who were only centimeters away before she finally smiled in defeat and joined him through the portal.


	26. Chapter 24

Numb.

That was all Xephos could feel as he passed through the portal. At first, it had started as a wave of cold, but soon quickly grew into a paralyzing numbness until he wasn't even certain if he was standing on solid ground. The strange sounds of the portal had started to grow louder and louder, but soon died away as his sight was filled with a metallic purple that danced around him mischievously. Finally, though, he felt the ground begin to form under his feet and he carefully moved his shakily legs out of the portal.

The ground underneath didn't feel like natural terrain - it was too flat, and he could hear any sounds except for the portal behind him. When the Space Man opened his eyes, he was greeted with a strangely modern sight. The entire room that the three heroes were in was made entirely out of metal, save for a large glass window. There was a strange metal table in the middle of the room, and computer screens and grates were fixed into the walls. As expected, the three of them were at a loss for words as they looked around in puzzlement. "Well I wasn't..." Honeydew said after a long pause, "I'm not what I _was_ expecting, but it wasn't this."

"Well I was expecting _this_," Xephos said as he looked out to greet a sea of lava, fire, and Netherrack. "What I can see out the window. I wasn't expecting...these TVs or keyboard and shit."

"So we're in the Nether," Honeydew reiterated after he was finished looking out the window, "But we're in, like...like a metal box." As the three of them continued to look around the room, examining the computers and strange machinery, Xephos looked up to the portal they had perviously passed through and his eyes spotted a few signs above the frame. "What the Christ is this? What's that say? What's that say up there?"

"Experimental Space/Time Fissure #8" Honeydew said aloud, not completely able to understand every word that he read, "Power: Geotherm. Warning Danger Decommissioned July 2077. 2077? But thats the..future." The three of them looked at each other, more nervous and confused of the foreign room that contained them than the dangers outside. "I don't know." he continued, "Is this the TARDIS? Are we in the TARDIS? What's going on?!"

"I don't know," Xephos answered as he looked at the machinery around him, "Well this isn't what I expected at all. I this was gonna be, like, Israphel's Evil Castle of Doom that we - we saw before. But I guess he _has_ been using it to, like, move around and stuff so..."

Annahvi watched as her friends continued to wander around the metal box in confusion, but it was obvious that her attention was glued to the world past the large window. It was the first time she and her friend's had ever entered into the Nether before, and it was much more mystifying than terrifying. She wanted to leave the confining room and explore territory unknown to civilization. Curiously, she reached into her satchel and took out the book, which had surprisingly remained dry during the entire excursion through rain, sea, and underwater lake - no doubt a special property of her literary companion. She flipped through the pages, her eyes glancing back up through the window every now and then, as if the entire world would disappear in a flash, until she came across a small section regarding the different worlds and realities beyond Minecraftia.

"We shouldn't have gone through." Honeydew said fearfully, "We shouldn't have gone through. We should've destroyed the portal, we should never have gone through; there's no Daisy here!"

"Well Old_Peculier did tell us to _destroy_ the portals rather than go through." Xephos admitted.

"We need to get back to the bay; we need to sort out this Jock situation. He's an agent."

"Okay, we'll sort this out later. Come on, Annahvi, we've got to get back to BBQ Bay."

The Elf, after a few seconds, looked back up to her friends and nodded her head reluctantly before joining them through the portal once again and back into Jock's underground cave. "How're we gonna get back up past the lava-ery thing?" Xephos asked.

"That is a good question that I don't know the answer to." Honeydew said as they looked to the opposite side of the lake.

"Well I think I've got some buckets and stuff, we could probably just-"

"Balls to it!" he interrupted, "We're just gonna dig our way out the old-fashioned way!"

As the Space Man and Dwarf began mining their way back up to the surface and discussing their plans to escape and find Jock, Annahvi was busy on the dirt as she continued reading by torchlight; crowing behind Xephos and Honeydew wouldn't get them out of the cave any faster.

"It _is_ a bit like the TARDIS," Honeydew said as he examined the now destroyed portal, "Israphel's got all of these portals set up across the world, and I think he goes _in_ a portal, he's in his little TARDIS, and then he goes back out again and then he's in a differnt place."

"But it said 'Number 8' on it," Xephos added, climbing down from the stairs he had just mined out.

"Well either that's, like, the number of the portal; maybe there's eight portals across the world. How many have we come across?"

"About four," Annahvi answered as she accompanied Xephos as they followed Honeydew.

"I mean, we _made_ one of 'em. Oh God," he laughed, "Ugh! I don't like thinkin' about that, that we might be in some way responsible."

Honeydew's friends laughed behind him, and to his happiness he had broken into a decent sized tunnel which stretched to a complex networks of caves and caverns. Unfortunately, as Honeydew stepped out and began to examine the tunnels ahead of them, he failed to notice a certain green-skinned monster that was slowly approaching until he heard Xephos scream. "There's a Creeper behind you! God Simon!"

He turned around and was instantly face-to-horrifying-face with the Creeper and of course he took the most sensible corse of actions, which was to scream and run away. However, the Creeper was already in close proximity when it began to hiss. With the lack of proper light and the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the Dwarf failed to run away in time and was caught in the radius of the explosion. He screamed in terror as he fell through the thin floor and into the lake below.

"Are you okay?" Xephos called out, although he didn't sound terribly concerned.

"I think so..." Honeydew sputtered as he surfaced from the water and looked up to his friends through the massive hole, "I don't know! I can't feel my legs! Is this normal? Oh God! There's - There's a _lot_ of zombies down here."

Annahvi couldn't help but chuckle softly as she watched her Dwarven friend stagger up the stairs, frantically avoiding the claws and teeth of the undead before helping him seal off the stairwell with the remaining cobblestone in their inventories.

"What the hell is this way?" they heard Xephos mumbled as he placed down a few more torches around the cave, before suddenly shouting "Oh god! There's another...There's an _actual _dungeon over here as well! Um...It's-It's _full_ of zombies, look! Look at the amount of zombies in there. That is terrifying!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Honeydew laughed in disbelief as he and Annahvi joined their friend and watched the horde of undead try and break through the wall, "What the hell is going on?!"

"This is a horrible trap for us, whoever set this."

"I mean, I guess it's here to defend the portal,"

"Let's just try and dig out here, oh for goodness sake." Xephos groaned as he began gripping his pickaxe and began to slowly chip away at the rock above them.

"Just don't...if you hit another dungeon..." Honeydew began but the three of them could only laugh nervously as they slowly began to climb up a set of makeshift stairs, swinging wildly at the wall in front of them.

The three adventurers continued to mine up for a few more moments in silence, but due to the lack of proper lighting it was slowly becoming darker and darker. This, combined with the urgency to escape from the caves prompted Honeydew to swing haphazardly at whatever what was directly in front of him. As a result, the Dwarf was prompted to strike Xephos with his diamond pickaxe right in the back of his head. The Space Man only had a moment to look back in confusion before he tumbled off the hill of rocks.

"Oh shit!" Annahvi dropped her pickaxe with a clatter and ran to his side before he could hit the ground. Unlike their previous incident on The Wall, the Elf was at least _partially_ successful; she managed to break his fall with her body, but at least it wasn't a hundred-foot drop. She carefully moved the unconscious man off of her and against the nearby wall before giving her Dwarven friend a look of confusion and disbelief. "I'm sorry," he laughed nervously, "I just hit him by accident! I'm sorry!"

She simply scoffed before turning back to Xephos. "Just keep mining," she sighed, "You've probably put him in a coma by now."

"I'm sorry!"

As Honeydew continued to mine away in silence, Annahvi stood behind him with Xephos' arm slung across her neck. "How much longer to you think it'll take 'till we reach the surface?" she asked, "'Cause Lewis isn't what I'd call light weight."

However, before Honeydew could properly answer the Elf's question, he turned to see water beginning to trickle out of a few cracks in the rock. He only had a moment to examine the cracks before the entire wall quickly gave way and water began to rush down. Honeydew was able to withstand the jet of ocean water, but he could only watched in shock and amusement as Annahvi and Xephos tumbled backwards until they were once again back in the tunnels, now flooded with water.

"Fuckin' hell," Annahvi groaned as she stood up, about knee-deep in water, a tangles mess of wet locks covering her face. She looked around frantically before she laid her eyes on Xephos, who was now floating on his back in the water. She quickly hooked her arms around his waist and dragged him out of the water as best as she could and propped him up against a nearby wall. "C'mon, Lewis!" she urged nervously, shaking his shoulders back and forth, "You've got to wake up now! Or we're going to drown!"

Xephos was still breathing and there was no sign of blood, but if he didn't wake up soon then things would get far more complicated than they already were. Annahvi looked at her friend nervously before sighing in defeat before raising her hand up to his face.

_SLAP!_

The sudden sting of her hand striking his face woke Xephos in an instant and he quickly jolted upward, clutching his cheek. "Augh, my face! Augh, my head! What the _fuck_ happened?!"

"Good news," Honeydew yelled from the stairs above, "Um...I've dug my way out. Bad news: you're both going to drown!"

"Oh God," Xephos said in a mix between a groan and a laugh, "Simon!"

"It swings and roundabouts!" the Dwarf laughed.

"How. The. Oh God," Xephos sighed as they looked up the stairs, now practically submersed in water, "You really _have_ done a- done a number on this cave, haven't you."

"Look," Annahvi interrupted, "We've got to get out of here one way or another; get busy swimming or get busy dying!" And with that, she grabbed his arm and slowly began to half-swim, half-climb up the stairs.

Xephos had to practically dig his feet into the stone to withstand the immense force of the water pushing against their bodies. His vision was filled with blurred images of the silhouette of Annahvi leading him up the stairs and the cloudy water that they had to tread through. The thunderous sound of water crashing against the rock surfaces rung all around Annahvi as she struggled to keep a steady traction on the wet stairs, stopping periodically to stretched her head up over the water to take in another breath of air then going back under the turbulent waters. Occasionally one of them would lose their footing and slipped off the stairs and caught in the jet of water, as useful as a rag doll. When this happened, the other would have to catch them as they began to fall, and at the same time balance themselves against the water, or else they would both tumble down the stairs.

The water level began slowly increase higher and higher until it reached the where it was practically impossible to breathe in any air. The pressure had become a fierce storm and the thundering of water had now turned into a blend of muffled roars behind the two heroes. The moment that they reached the top of the stairs, all of the pressure and sound disappeared, as if they had reached the eye of the hurricane. The two of them blinked at each other as they drifted in the water, before swimming up to the surface. When Xephos finally breached the water, the first thing he heard was Annahvi speak. "Simon, you idiot!"

Xephos chuckled as watched his Dwarf friend splashed around with Annahvi holding his head just under water. Of course, this only laster a few seconds before Honeydew was able to surface and throw Annahvi backwards into the water. The Space Man couldn't help but laugh as Annahvi sputtered, her matted hair now stuck to her face. She looked at him in irritation before smirking and rolling her eyes. But in the midst of all the humor, Honeydew screamed out, "BBQ Bay is one fire!"

"What?!"

The other adventurers turned to the wooden bay, which was not too far from them. However, at the bottom of the bay, near the docks, they could plainly see a bright orange fire beginning to bloom, ready to burn the entire harbor. In the distance, they could hear a familiar voice, cackling.

"Yarr, now that those fools are dead, I can burn this place to the ground! Just as I did to Mistral City!"

Annahvi just stood there, her head just barely able to stay above the waters. A feeling of triumph and relief began to stir inside her. She was right all along! Skylord_Lysander _was_ innocent! She smiled for a second, completely content with her life, but it wasn't long until the fire began to grow. Annahvi watched as the fire began to spread, consuming everything in sight. This was the man that destroyed her home, Knight_Peculier's home, and _all _of Mistral City. She clenched her fists until her nails began to form tiny crescents in her palms. She had finally found the man responsible for so much destruction, and she could finally put an end to this.

"Mistral City?" Xephos asked, "So...Wasn't that...I thought that was Skylord_Lysander."

"Skylord_Lysander isn't the bad guy that we thought he was?" Honeydew asked.

"Is Skylord_Lysander Jock?"

"No. No he isn't, you _idiot_. You have a go at me for not following the plot of this, and then you come out with stuff like that!"

Xephos chuckled, rolling his eyes as he turned back to Honeydew, but his smile instantly changed to a frown when he saw that Annahvi wasn't behind him. "Simon, where's Annahvi?"

"I...don't know." his friend answered as they looked around the waters for any sign of the Elf. At first, all that Xephos could think of was the possibility that Annahvi had drowned, but it was only moments later that realization dawned on him. "Oh shit!"

Annahvi clawed her hands into the floor of the dock, splinters digging under her nails but disregarded the pain in her fingers. She pulled herself up onto the platform, on her hands and knees as she coughed up sea water. Pulling herself up from the floor, she looked around in horror to see what was one a simple fire had now evolved into a terrifying monster.

_"Annahvi," _Isis said from behind the Elf, placing a hand on her shoulder, _"I can see what you're thinking and feeling; you need to be careful."_

"I know what I'm doing," Annahvi said coldly, as she glanced over her shoulder, "I'm going to find Jock and get some fuckin' answers."

"No!" Isabel yelled from the upper platforms, "The fire is out of control!"

"Hahahahaha! BURN!"

"Spacker! Splice tae maenbraice! Nae wee scrumpey ken kill ole Angus!"

"Aye Aye sir!"

Annahvi looked over to see Angus working at his ship before turning back to the shadow. "Isis, can you help put out these fires?"

_"I suppose I can try..."_

"Good." And with that, Annahvi ran off.

By then, the fire had spread rapidly across the floors and up the pillars, and the upper platform was already staring to fall apart as flaming debris fell into the water below. The sky was already filled with the horrible smell of smoke and the crackling of the fires was beginning to smother out the sounds of the pirates frantically trying to save the pier. Annahvi swore under her breath as she looked to see the stairs blocked by a valley of flames. She could hear Jock's evil laughter echo through her ears and she gripped her hands tightly before running. Intense heat surrounded her body and the floor underneath her was beginning to crack away. She could feel sweat drip down her face as she covered her mouth and continued to run for what felt like an eternity, but she finally reached the base of the stairs and began to run up to the upper level.

"Fuckin' hell, Annahvi," Xephos cursed as he and Honeydew reached the docks, "Where have you gone?"

"Is that here there?" the Dwarf asked as he pointed out to a burning set of staircases. The Space Man followed his finger to the staircase where he could just barely see Annahvi through the raging flames. "Shit!"

"Annahvi!" He yelled out as they ran to the Elf, "Wait! Annahvi!"

She paused for a moment on the blazing staircase and turned to see her fellow heroes running after her. "Lewis! Simon!" she called back, "Jock's up this way! I've got to stop him!"

"Wait! You need to help us with these fires!"

"Don't worry!" Annahvi continued, as her gaze constantly switched between the stairs leading up, and her friends below, "I've got it under control!"

"But, Annahvi-"

_C-CRAAACK!_

The three of them looked up in horror to see more floorboards falling down from above as they crashed onto the docks below. Xephos raised his arm to shield if face from the red-hot embers as the food crumbled into tiny bits of ash and cinders. When he looked back up, he realized the fires had now grown so big, they created a barrier between them and Annahvi.

"Look," she yelled finally, "I've got to stop Jock! You guys should try to take care of the bay! I'm sorry I've got to leave you here!" And with that, she ran up the stairs and out of sight. Xephos was about to call out to her once more, but he couldn't find the proper words to soliloquy. He turned to Honeydew before sighing in defeat and running off in the opposite direction in hopes of finding another way to the upper platforms.

As Annahvi continued to chase after Jock, memories of the Yogcave and Mistral City began to flood into her mind. She remembered waking up from the crash and seeing the forest around her littered with fires, and standing amongst the rubble that was once her, Xephos' and Honeydew's home. The same had happened to Knight_Peculier, his tiny bungalow had been destroyed as well, but she remembered how he frantically tried to save what was left of his family home, and all they could do was watch in regret was the remains of his home quickly wasted away. She remembered emerging from the underground mines, and the first thing the four of them saw was the sight of Mistral City burning. Running down the burning streets in hopes of finding Lysander, and seeing his home practically destroyed.

All of this destruction, all of this pain and rage; none of it compared to the sight of BBQ Bay.

Annahvi looked through the raging fires and saw Jock standing in the middle of the platform with a twisted smile on his face, as if someone had tied the corners of his mouth to his ears. He looked up to the Elf and smiled evilly, not making a single move. Without a pause for thought, Annahvi charged through the ring of fire that encircled Jock, firing arrow after arrow. The fiend only smiled smugly as he quickly dodged her arrows before unsheathing a gleaming cutlass.

"I thought you had died with yer idiot friends," Jock laughed as he glared at Annahvi, now panting and trying her best to control her rage, "I suppose I underestimated ye."

"Jock_Fireblast..." Annahvi said, almost in a chuckle, before shouting out, "God! I can't believe how _stupid_ I was to believe everything you said!" Jock laughed in amusement, making her grip her bow tighter. "Not like anyone else was expectin' it to be good ol' Jock" he continued, the two of them walking around the circle. "Do ya really want ta kill me? Ya could just let me go, an' we'll never cross paths again."

Annahvi chuckled softly before drawing another arrow, "You're going to die any other way. I might as well enjoy this chance."

She let the arrow go from her fingers' grasp and began to fire with the speed and dexterity of a machine, but Jock was able to easily avoid her arrows. He raised his cutlass high above his head, eclipsing the sun with his blade before bringing it down. Annahvi quickly stepped out of the way, but she wasn't quick enough and the blade was able to graze her right arm. She down at the cut her in arm and then back at Jock. "I gave you the chance ta leave while ya still could. Don't be expectin' me to give you mercy now." And with that, the two of them began the battle.

Annahvi was able to just barely evade his strikes, but she was left with no opportunity to attack. It was simply of game of cat-and-mouse; running and dodging, then running and dodging again. It was when Jock had finally broken past her defenses that the pirate was able to cut into her leg and kicked her to the ground. Her knees buckled under and she tumbled with just enough time to roll onto her back and see Jock lower his cutlass. She quickly raised her bow above her head, blocking the sword as it lowered, but she could already feel the wood of her bow beginning to split - it would only be a matter of time before the blade would reach its target. Jock smiled wickedly as he forced the cutlass down farther, edging closer and closer to her face. She looked around frantically for a sword, a shield - just _something_ she could use to properly defend herself. In the distance, she could see a discarded iron poker, but it was too far for her to possibly reach before getting killed by Jock.

Her eyes frantically moved between the cutlass and the sword, before she finally let out a deep breath and reluctantly closed her eyes. She could still feel the pressure of Jock pushing down against her arms, but the sounds began to slowly blend once more into a strange ringing of whispers. She slowly turned her head to the vague direction of the sword, and in its place she could see a bright red glow, only a few feet away. All she had to do was go and take it.

"Dammit." Xephos swore under his breath as they began climbing an enormous ladder up to the upper platform of the dock, which was proven quite a challenge with one hand holding a bucket full of water. With Honeydew right behind him, or rather below him, Xephos finally reached the top of the platform, without spilling any water mind you. From there, they were greeted with the sight of a fire so immense that the inferno seemed to stretch up to the heavens. Through the smoke and flames, Xephos could just barely make out the figure of Jock, and below him he could see Annahvi, just barely able to hold back the fiend.

"Shit!" he cursed, "Jock was over there with Annahvi, how do we get to them?"

"Go around the side," Honeydew instructed as they ran around the edge of the platform. Xephos quickly ran between two buildings, but to his dismay the wood had already been burned away, leaving a massive gap. He looked around, but could no longer see the pirate nor could he see Annahvi. A sense of fear and dread began to overcome him. "Oh my God..."

"Over here!" Honeydew called out.

"Where are you?"

"Around the edge! Around the edge! There's stone!"

"Oh right!" Xephos said as he quickly caught up to Honeydew, who was busy extinguishing a few fires. "Quick! Quick! Quick!" The two of them ran along the stone blockade around the platform until they finally reached the middle of the platform with the aqueducts and massive fire that had already destroyed a great deal of the bay. As they neared the spreading fires, Xephos could slowly see Annahvi, who was now down on one knee, with a gleaming sword in her hands. On the other side of the small circle he could see Jock, who was now clutching his left arm.

"Annahvi!" he yelled out, "We're here!"

She slowly began to rise from her knee and back onto her feet, but she said nothing to Xephos or Honeydew - she didn't even motion towards them. "Annahvi!" Xephos yelled again, "Can you Hear me?"

She still made no movement, and without any sound, she and Jock charged at one another, causing sparks to fly as their blades clashed against one another with a distinct ring that pierced the air.

"Shit," Xephos swore as he grabbed his bucket of water, "We've got to get her out of there before she gets herself killed!"

And so he and Honeydew began to march back and forth as they emptied buckets after buckets of water onto the hungry fires. Yet it made little difference in reaching Annahvi, for the moment one fire was snuffed out, another one would grow twice its size. But she paid no attention to the fires behind her, it appeared that all of her focus was directed on fighting against the pirate. It was after marching back and forth between the fires and the nearby aqueducts for the numberless time when they heard an agonized scream. The buckets fell to the floor with a loud clank and when Xephos looked up, but was both shocked and relieved to see Annahvi standing over Jock who was now bleeding from his left arm, his side, and his right leg. The poker now in her right hand, and his cutlass in her left, now pointed at his throat.

Jock looked up at Annahvi in disbelief before sighing in defeat with a smile, "Ya put up a good fight, lass. Alright, I surrender now." But Annahvi made no effort to remove the tip of the sword from his throat.

"Annahvi!" Xephos yelled, "He said he surrenders!" Although she said nothing, Annahvi slowly relaxed and removed the sword from Jock's throat. As Jock smiled and began to lift himself from the floor, both he and Xephos were completely unaware of the bloody poker which still gleamed in the Elf's other hand.

Screams filled the air as Annahvi drove the sharpened tip straight through Jock's hand. A mix of blood and puss began to run down the blade before dripping onto her feet, but she paid no attention. With a sharp twist, she wrenched the twisted metal, causing a horrible scream accompanied by a sickening crunching sound of bones breaking. Xephos and Honeydew could only watched in horror as Jock wailed in pain. The pirate kicked his legs in an attempt to crawl away as he tried to remove his blood-soaked hand from the cutlass, but it only resulted in the poker digging deeper into his flesh.

She roughly yanked the iron out of Jock's hand, eliciting a horrible scream as blood began to drip down his arm and stained the floorboards a dark red. He looked up at Annahvi through tear filled eyes as she paused to admire her handiwork, and quickly scrambled to his feet, but the moment he placed his injured hand on the floor, he screamed in pain and fell back to the ground. Annahvi glanced back at Jock before extending her arm out to the air, so the iron was held over the flickering fires. Realizing her cruel intentions, Jock began to crawl away, but was only able to reach less than a foot before collapsing onto the floor. As Annahvi casually strode to the whimpering man, Xephos and Honeydew screamed at the top of their lungs for her to stop. But their pleas fell upon deaf ears. Once the Elf was finally standing over Jock, she looked down at him with an empty gaze before tightening her grip on the iron, which now protruded a cherry-red tip.

There was a blood curdling scream which was quickly followed with the disgusting smell of sizzling flesh.

Jock tried to squirm away as the iron began to burn away at layer after layer of skin and muscle, but Annahvi only dug the iron deeper until it reached his bones. She held his body down with her foot as she continued to cauterize the several wounds that she had perviously opened. When she finally removed the iron from the last lesion, she stepped away from a bloody and burnt man, curled up and crying. She looked down at Jock as if he was a stray animal before raising the iron poker in her hand high above the air.

Blood painted the air in droplets and ribbons as the sound of crushed bones echoed through the air. Jock howled and screamed in pain as the hook on the poker sunk deeper and deeper into his body with every swing, piercing his skin and tearing through his muscles. Her swings soon became wild and haphazardly but still contained an undying rage. It wasn't long before the screams were reduced to painful whimpers and gurgles, and then nothing. All that could be heard was the crackling of the nearby fires, and a stomach churning squish from every swing.

The iron fell to the floor with a clatter as Annahvi stood there, soaked in blood. She panted heavily, before closing her fists tightly, which caused a few drops of blood to fall from her knuckles. After a moment, she looked up to Xephos and Honeydew, who had now fallen into silence.

"He didn't have the map fragment on his person," Annahvi said bluntly as the body began to slowly fade away, as well as the blood the covered the floor and her clothes. "He might have hidden it."

The two men starred at her, afraid and confused, before their silence was interrupted by a faraway shout. "Heroes, join me on the Black Pimple!"

The three of them looked down into the ocean to see Isabel on her ship, along with her first mate.

"You guys go," Annahvi instructed, drawing Xephos' and Honeydew's attention once more, "I'll meet up with you later."

They looked at her with reluctance, but after a moment of silence the two of them headed off into the waters below, leaving Annahvi with her thoughts. She looked around the massacre of fire and flames before she finally saw Isis, a look of despair and sadness obvious in her eyes.

_"Annahvi..."_

"He was corrupted;" she answered coldly, "it should be considered an act of mercy on my part."

_"But he could have been saved."_

Neither said nothing for a long time before Isis finally reached the discarded bucket of water and poured it over the fires, allowing Annahvi to pass through. As the Elf walked off to the lower platforms, Isis slowly followed behind.

_"...I should have been there to help you."_

Annahvi looked back at Isis with an emotionless expression before looking off to the Black Pimple where she could just barely see Xephos and Honeydew beside PirateTinman. While Honeydew and PirateTinman were busy listening to Isabel, Xephos looked off to Annahvi, and although they were far away, they could obviously see the fear in Xephos' face, and the indifference in Annahvi's.

"Although BBQ bay is lost, you have killed a terrible fiend this day." the pirate continued, resulting in a grim silence between the two men. But then, Isabel reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a slightly damp piece of paper. "Here, I found this in the water after the bay caught fire...It is the map fragment you were searching for." Xephos and Honeydew smiled excitedly as the Space Man examined the paper in his hands. "Before you leave," Isabel continued, "I would tell you my tale..."

Annahvi watched from the remains of the docks as Isabel began to tell her life story to her fellow adventurers, but as she did so, she could feel a twisting inside her stomach; a growing fear inside herself. Images of Jock's mutilated face were all that she could think of, his screams were all she could hear. He had fallen under the corruption of Israphel, and he had finally been released from the evil. She looked down into the waters below to see a face that was slowly beginning to fade away. She could no longer make out the lips that once formed a smile, and the eyes were slowly beginning to lose their color. She let her feet dangle off the small remains of the platform as she looked off into the horizon, with isis sitting beside her.

_"You're scared, aren't you?"_

"I...I was in control, I know it. I knew what I was doing, and I understood the consequences." Annahvi sighed as she let the tips of her boots glide across the water.

_"So then why are you so conflicted?"_

"I don't know," she sighed as she buried her face in her arms, "Isis, please help me. I need to learn how to control myself. I can't let this happen ever again."

A young woman and her shadow sat side by side together on the broken docks.


	27. Chapter 25

_"Be careful up there, Annahvi!" Xephos warned from down below, "It is a very long drop down!" As the Space Man shouted up at the large makeshift dirt tower, Annahvi poked her head over the small platform and glanced down with a reassuring smile._

_"Don't worry," she laughed, "It's perfectly fine..." She chuckled at Xephos' motherly attitude as she began to mine out the coal on the face of the mountain. However, at the bottom of the tower, the other adventurer was actually quite worried for the Elf's safety - the last thing they needed was an injured personnel. For a few suspenseful minutes, Annahvi teetered precariously on a dirt tower, mining out the few bits of valuable coal. Finally, though, she had finished, and placed the last chunk of coal into her sack._

_"Okay." She called out, "I got the coal." She threw the sack with the coal towards Xephos and he happily caught it but only a few seconds after, the tower began to wobble and sway. Annahvi let out a terrified squeak as she stood onto the small cliff she had mined out and looked down to nervously. Almost instantly after the tower began to crumble away, Xephos backed away and looked up at the frightened young Elf._

_"Annahvi!" He called out, "You have to jump down!"_

_"WHAT?!" She yelled, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"_

_"Just jump and I'll catch you!"_

_"Absolutely not!"_

_"Trust me!" Xephos yelled. The Elf looked down at him nervously before she closed her eyes and carefully slid off the platform. Xephos looked up nervously as he opened his arms out to catch his friend, as she rapidly began to descend down. Her hair and cloak fluttered upwards as she shielded her face with her arms. Unfortunately, Annahvi misjudged her aim and practically landed face-first on the hard ground only a few inches away from the Space Man._

_"Ow..." Xephos winced, "That didn't go as well as I planned..."_

_"I instantly regretted that decision the moment I jumped..." The Elf groaned as she sat up and covered her bruised face with her hands. Xephos couldn't help but chuckle softly as he knelt down to her and placed his hands on her wrists. "Let me see your face."_

_"Are you shitting me?!" she spat, pushing him away, "I just trusted you to catch me and you couldn't even bee arsed to do that!"_

_"Look, just let me see if you're hurt."_

_"No!"_

_Xephos grabbed her wrists and began to pull her hands away from her, but Annahvi instantly tugged backwards and kept her hands shielding her face. They struggled for a few minutes before Xephos was finally able to successfully managed to pry her hands away to reveal her face. The moment Annahvi saw Xephos' gaze she groaned. "Is it really that bad?"_

_He didn't say anything; just made a noise._

_"Here, let me take a closer look," Xephos sighed as he placed his hands on her face. To say that her face was bad, was a gross understatement. Her skin was a bright shade of red, and what wasn't red was already beginning to turn a mix of violet and blue. Her hair was horribly tousled with a few leaves and twigs, and there were still bits of grass and dirt on her face._

_"Hold on," he chuckled, "You still have bits of shit on you."_

_"Thanks...I guess," Annahvi grumbled as he brushed away the leaves and other small debris from her face. He chuckled as she grumbled incoherently before examining her face once more._

_"Hey, guys!" Honeydew called out as he reentered the cave, "I've got all of our shit from-" He stopped speaking instantly and looked down at his two friends._

_"Ah! Simon, it's not what you think it is!" Xephos began before he caught a glimpse of Annahvi's mischievous smirk and she smacked her forehead against his. "Ow! What the hell?!"_

_"Now we're even," the Elf grumbled as she stood up._

_"...Am I interrupting something?" the Dwarf asked as he scratched his beard in confusion._

_"Let's just finish that roof..." Xephos sighed as he covered his forehead with his hand._

Annahvi chuckled as the images of the three of them slowly began to fade away and the sound began to blend into a muddled echo.

"So that was what your life was like in the Yogcave?" Isis asked as the two of them leaned against the stone wall.

"Yeah," the Elf answered, a hint of nostalgia gleamed in her eyes, "Life was nuts, but it was fun." But as she looked to see Xephos slowly disappear from her sight, her smile began to follow with him. "Sometimes I wish that we had never met Israphel. If we never encountered him, we would have never had gone to Terrorvale and none of use would be in this mess."

"But if you did, then you would have never had met Knight_Peculier, you would never have gone to Mistral City, and you would have never had met, Fumblemore,, Isabel,, Spacker, Templar_Adaephon, Skylord_Lysander and several others."

Annahvi turned to Isis, but her shadow only shrugged, "I'm just stating a fact."

"Right..." she mumbled softly as her thoughts began to wander once more. Annahvi frowned as she thought of Skylord_Lysander. Before she, Xephos and Honeydew met Knight_Peculier, they had never known him and vice versa. Had they never met, would he have still been involved in fighting against Israphel? He had previously known Knight_Peculier's father, but would Knight_Peculier have even survived in Terrorvale without their assistance? Would Mistral City have not burned down?

Isis looked down at her frustrated friend with a giggle. "You think too much, my friend."

"Well when I don't think I end up killing someone with a hot iron poker,"

"It wasn't a lack of thinking. It was a lack of emotional control."

"Nonetheless, I brutally murdered someone,"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the reason we're looking into your memories is to _forget_ about killing Jock. I can't contemplate the anger and grief that you feel, but I understand that you are frustrated. Feeling sorry for yourself is not going to change anything, the only thing we can do is look forwards and move on. Tough times don't last, tough people do."

After a moment of silence Annahvi looked back up at Isis with a weak smile before nodding her head.

_"...ANNAHVI..." _a deep voice bellowed out, as the ground underneath her feet began to rumble.

The Elf looked around in confusion and the world began to crumble away, but Isis quickly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, someone is trying to talk to you in the physical world."

"Oh, really..."

"I'll guide you back out to the physical world."

"Annahvi, I know you can hear me!" Xephos groaned as he poked her head repeated. "Annahvi!", he shouted before grabbing her shoulders and shaking her back and forth.

"ANNAHVI!"

"AAAHHH!"

S_PLASH!_

The Elf gasped and sputtered as she rose to the surface of the water, clothes now fully soaked and her hair plastered to her face. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed, exasperated.

"What's wrong with you?" Xephos answered as he looked down at her, "I was trying to talk to you for over five minutes and you were just satting around."

She grumbled under her breath as Xephos jumped into the waters below and quickly accompanied her and Honeydew. But just as they began to swim towards the shore, the heard a familiar voice speak up. "Dread Pirate," Spacker requested, looking up to the Black Pimple from a small rowboat, "I would ask your permission to accompany these two."

"Oh?" Isabel questioned.

"I have heard rumors of a map, I may be able to help."

"I understand, I will miss your help Spacker. Be careful."

"You too, Isabel." the undead Dwarf then turned to the three adventurers. "Lead on heroes, there is no time to waste."

"Oh great,"

"Do we not have a say in this, then?" Xephos laughed. "He just has to come with us?"

"Um...This is a little bit awkward." Honeydew said softly as they began to swim back to solid land, "I feel like we've picked up a stray."

"And to you Dwarf," Isabel called out after some time, "We will have to reunite some time for that drink." They turned around to see the Dread Pirate Norris just in time to catch a glimpse of a wink before she disappeared into the captain's quarters.

"Oh! Oh, Isabel," Honeydew sighed as he looked back to the ship, "Oh, my love..."

"I still don't think you're her type," Annahvi grumbled as she swam past him, looking out to an enormous wooden bridge jutting out of the ocean floor.

"I guess we'll see her in Icaria." Xephos suggested.

"See ya soon, love!" Honeydew yelled back, "Keep the Dwarf beer warm and the heart cold...Or was it the other way around? I-I forget."

"I think it's...you ballsed that up."

"Aw damn..."

"Um...Right. So back to, uh, Mistral City!"

As the three heroes and Dwarven zombie reached the sandy beaches of solid land, they continued into a deep forest that lived underneath the massive bridge, hoping that it would lead back to the abandoned city. While the four of them traveled through the dense woods, Xephos and Honeydew joked with one another and Spacker rambled on about Stoneholm and the corruption of Verigan's map.

Annahvi followed beside the zombified Dwarf as he continued to talk about corruption and power, but she paid not mind. She looked up absent-mindedly as the sunlight struck through the veils of branches and leaves. A soft sea breeze danced through thick undergrowth that surrounded the four adventurers. The Elf closed her eyes as he feet continued their sluggish movement forward as a think blanket of cool wind wrapped itself around her which was quickly accompanied by a warm blush as the sunlight traveled through the cloudless sky. Annahvi didn't even realize she had stopped walking until she heard a familiar voice speak up.

"Annahvi, is everything alright?"

The Elf tore her eyes away from the branches above and turned to see Xephos by her side with a concerned expression.

"You don't have to worry about me, Lewis. It's obvious that I'm not in high spirits, but I'll be fine over time." she smiled weakly at the Space Man, but a trouble gaze was still plastered over his face. "I want you to be honest with me," he said as they continued walking through the forest, "We've all been through a lot of messed up guff, and I'm worried about you is all."

Annahvi stopped and turned to her friend, conflicting emotions strewn across her face before she finally sighed in frustration. "I...I just..." she paused for a moment before she sighed in frustration and looked back up to the clouds that hung above. "When I saw Mistral City burning, I could only ask myself 'What kind of sick mind would do such a thing?' I'd never seen so much destruction, so much chaos. When you and Simon had ran into the church, I headed off to Skylord_Jasper's home; I thought that Lysander would be there."

"Yeah, Knight_Peculier told me and Simon about that." Xephos sighed as they walked amongst the forest. "I guess that we were partially to blame for just running into the church without thinking."

"When I got to the apartment it was already in flames but I didn't even _consider_ my own safety. I obviously couldn't find either of them, but by the time I realized that the entire first floor was ablaze. And when I reached the Elysium, and saw all of Mistral City burning, I just fell apart. I thought by killing Jock I was doing a good thing; saving potential victims from losing their homes. but now..."

Annahvi clenched her hands into tight fists until her nails began to dig tiny slivers into her palms, and she could feel her body beginning to shake. Xephos flinched when she began to smash her fists against a nearby wall, but it wasn't long before she ran out of steam and just stood there with tears of frustration running down her face.

The Space Man smiled warmly before placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her face to look at him. "I've said this at least a dozen times and I'll say a million times more: Everything is going to be alright and we'll solve this. But I'll also say this, you can't just rush into things all the time. You've got me, Simon, Knight_Peculier, and a ton of other people there to support you." She nodded her head with a slightly more confident smile as she wiped away the tears from her face.

"So no more being angsty, deal?"

She looked up at him with a laugh before nodding her head. "Deal!"

They quickly caught up with the Dwarves, and it was only a few minutes later they reached a cobblestone path just as the forest began to grow denser. They followed down the road but Xephos stopped abruptly and looked up to the sky and saw a massive cluster of trees that floated above in the air.

"Ack!" Spacker groaned, "Look at these bloody trees!"

"Where's the path?" Honeydew asked as he stood on the edge of the road.

"We'll it's looking a lot more...tree, than last time we were here."

"It's okay, I've got an axe." Honeydew said as he began to chop and hack through the enormous trees. "I've got an axe; I can take care of this."

"Oh God," Xephos laughed nervously, "Careful, Swampy might _really_ get pissed off with you if start doing that."

At the sound of Swampy's name the Dwarf froze so suddenly it almost appeared as if the axe in his hands would have gone flying, "Oh! Okay, yeah good point. I'll put the axe away."

"I'm guessing that means the pub's closed." Spacker assumed as he followed through the small tunnel that bursted through the leaves and branches.

"Oh God is this the path?," Honeydew sighed as they weaved between the mass of trees and back onto the cobblestone, which was now coated with a generous layer of fuzzy moss, "It's all overgrown and mossy and..."

"Swampy's sure been busy..." Annahvi sighed as she looked around in wonder. "How long were we away? A week or two?"

"Where was our tree that we put up, do you remember?"

"Um...Oh God it's so dark here." Honeydew sighed as they reached the town square, and right between the fountains was a massive tree that reached all the way up the the floating forest. "Oh it must be this here! It must be this one here!"

"Well lead on."

"Follow me!"

As Honeydew climbed up the massive tree with Xephos following behind, Annahvi paused for a moment and looked behind, expecting to see Spacker. But he wasn't there. "Hm..." Annahvi muttered, "He probably just went to the pub and see if there's any grog to drink."

Giving a casual shrug, she followed behind Xephos.

"Have we got our weird friend."

"Well, Simon I-"

"Yeah," Xephos interrupted, "He's here. Um...He's beat us up the ladder."

"What?" Annahvi asked in disbelief, but as she poked her head up she was surprised to see the green face of Spacker_LeChuck.

"But what? How did you- Wha?"

"Okay, okay." Xephos said as he and Honeydew continued on.

"He's very agile for an undead Dwarven pirate man-zombie."

"There's _definitely_ more trees than there were last time," Xephos concluded as the four of them scanned over what remained of Mistral.

"Do you remember this used to be a big busteling city, Lewis. Now it's like a park."

"It's not really a park, it's more like a flippin' jungle! I can't even _see_, like, anything."

They headed up the winding staircase that lead to the top of the floating forest, but the moment they reached the end of the stairs they stopped and just looked on in bewilderment.

"Jesus Christ," Annahvi sighed as she tried to push away a few of the branches in her way, "Swampy's can _certainly_ been busy." Honeydew began to tear down a few stray branches and leaves that blocked his view, but the moment the first of the leaves fell with a clear hiss he had realized his mistake too late.

"Get out of my forest!"

"OH NO! NOT AGAIN!" Honeydew laughed as he looked around frantically before tearing through more of the trees, "Look, for God's sake, Swampy!"

Reluctantly, the Elf and Space Man followed suit and began to tear down the seemingly endless wall of leaves and branches until they finally came across Swampy. Regardless to his pervious help, he certainly wasn't happy to see a group of adventurers tearing through his trees.

"Swampy!" Xephos greeted happily, only to receive two hard whacks on the head from the wizard's staff.

Annahvi pulled Xephos away just as he punched the old man in the face, and Honeydew quickly stood between the two. "Calm down! Oh, for goodness sake, you crazy bugger..."

"Oh, it's you! Have you got the map?"

"Yes! We found one in the piratey bay!"

"Excellent! One down, two more to go!" Swampy smiled happily at the four of them, despite being punched in the face, before speaking again. "Man in red, man in blue...underneath you'll find the clue!"

"What?"

"What did ye say?" Spacker asked.

"What?" both Honeydew and Annahvi echoed.

"What?" the nutty wizard asked. "I didn't say anything! Now bugger off! You're messing up my forest!"

"Oh God," Honeydew laughed nervously as he quickly backed away from the very strange, old, dirty, and possibly senile wizard.

"Well, let's get out of here," Xephos said with a laughed as he urged his Dwarven friend down the stairs.

"Thanks! You've been a big help you crazy bastard..."

"Don't defile the land, or I'll find you and unleash nature's wrath!"

"Sheesh," the zombie Dwarf sighed, "I knew his brother Fumblemore back when I were adventuring with Verigan. Their tankards are half-full and a bit frothy, if you know what I mean...Follow me, we'll be at Stoneholm in no time!"

"Where? What? Stoneholm..." Honeydew repeated, "Stoneholm! Of course, good old Stoneholm."

"Onwards, wherever that is..." Xephos said indifferently as they followed Spacker back down to the square, but he paused to look out into the sky and a sense of dread fell upon him as he took note of the pitch black sky. "Well it is _very_ very dark now, so this is the sort of perfect time to leave the safety of the tree but that's fine."

"Yeah, yeah. Absolutely!" Honeydew laughed as he looked down the long trunk of the tree, "Um, I'm not sure I wanna go down there, to be frank, you guys."

"Well we're protected by a zombie Dwarf, so what's the worse that could happen?"

"We could get bombed up by a load of angry Creeps."

Once they reached solid ground once more, the three heroes followed Spacker out of Mistral City square and through a river to the edge of the forest.

"This was easier before the trees!" he said as he cut away at a few branches, but eventually they reached the path that lead them to the forested city.

They continued down an old worn away path, but once again came to a halt when they reached a sudden pitch in the land, which revealed a massive circumference of torn up land with stray rubble that littered the hard rock. In front of Spacker was a sign that read: 'DANGER! MINES!'

"The road is out!"

"Well," Honeydew began, "The road is out, is dark, our only guide here is a zombie."

"Is an _idiot_!" Xephos added, "And starring at the signs that say 'Danger Mines'. Well this is brilliant."

"He's bound to be a little slow, Lewis." Honeydew suggested as they carefully tread through the mutilated land, "I mean, he's dead. For goodness sake, his brain isn't what it was."

"My sense of direction has got worse since I got hit by the cannon ball," Spacker informed the heroes as they reached neared the end of the minefields. Honeydew instantly laughed when he heard this, and Annahvi couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "Oh God."

"It's quite, kind of...quiet out tonight..." Xephos said suspiciously as he looked about the landscape, just as they were about to enter a well-lit tunnel.

"It's serene. Maybe something scared them away..."

"Oh God, don't say that."

They traveled in silence for a while as they traveled through the tunnels, but once they reached the end they paused ins shock. What started off as a peaceful night had quickly evolved into an enormous rainstorm, but all the more shocking was a lake and mountain in the distance, which displayed a monument of Skylord_Jasper and a building with a bright pink J.

"What? What?!" Honeydew laughed in disbelief

"A whole lake full of zombies and a...I don't even know what that is."

"Is it...Is that Disneyland? What is that?!"

Xephos and Annahvi laughed at their starstruck friend, but their laughter was quickly cut off by a loud clap of thunder and a flash of lightning.

"Follow me," Spacker called out, "we'll be at Stoneholm in no time!" But the three heroes looked at each other in despair.

"Can't we go over there?" Xephos asked, motioning to the enormous monument in the distance. "I guess not..."

"We can't just ignore this, can we?" Honeydew firmly said, "We can't just ignore this."

"Hang on, hang on. Let's just follow where Spacker's going. Maybe we have to, like- Maybe he's leading us to some shelter or something that we can actually get, like, shelter from the rain."

"Follow me!" Spacker cried out with a mortifying hack, "I'll lead the way!"

"Hang on, that's my line!"

"What?" Xephos asked, "No it's not! That's a Dwarven, like, phrase." As Annahvi looked up, she noticed that they were walking across the lake filled with zombies and into a building connected to the monument, "Oh God, watch out;" the Space Man continued, "there's a Creeper over there with various horrible stuff."

"I would say 'Where?' But that might be famous last word."

They took a right and began to walk away from the strange building, but Annahvi stumbled blindly behind her friends. Through the stormy darkness she outstretched her arms cautiously until she bumped into Honeydew, causing the Dwarf to jump in terror.

"Sorry about that, friend." she sighed, "I can barely see my own hands."

"There's signs on this wall," Xephos noted as he dug through his inventory, "But I can't read them. Have you got any torches or glowstone or _anything_?"

"There," Honeydew sighed as he planted a torch down in front of a cobblestone wall, "What does it say?"

_Stoneholm Road_

_==CLOSED==_

_Due to Creeper Attacks_

"Oh no!" Spacker cried, "The road is out! How will I find my wait to Stoneholm?"

"'Please report to Skylord_Jasper for more information," Xephos read.

"What is this? Skylord who?"

"Is that what the 'J' stands for?"

"Well considering that was his face carved out of stone, I'd say so." Annahvi said

"Jasper, of course!" Honeydew said, but only moments later his expression turned to one of anxiety, "Oh no he's a bad guy! Isn't he? Is he a bad guy?"

"I don't know."

"I think he was a bit..." Honeydew began, but his voice trailed off when he saw a dark green shade stalking behind Xephos, hissing eerily. The Dwarf screamed nervously as the Creeper exploded right behind Xephos, who was headed for the strange building. "Oh, Jesus," he sighed as he picked himself up from the ground, "Uh, shall we just try and take refuge in this house?"

"Yes!"

The thoroughly soaked heroes crossed over a small bridge and into, what appeared to be a garden, but it was hard to tell on account of the rain, darkness, and hordes of monsters that surrounded the building. "C'mon," Annahvi sighed, "Let's just get inside and we'll explain ourselves."

She tugged at Xephos' sleeve and began to run through the garden, occasionally firing an arrow at the approaching enemies with Honeydew, Xephos, and Spacker following behind. "Push on," Honeydew said, before adding "OOH! CAREFUL NOW!" In a rather high-pitched voice.

Xephos looked behind him to see Honeydew and Spacker fighting off a few zombies, before turning back to the house, which was only a few feet away. "Oh God!"

"Get inside, quick!" Honeydew instructed as he swung the door wide open and fired a few arrows at the onslaught. His friends quickly filed into the house before he finally ran inside.


	28. Chapter 26

Suddenly the roaring storm outside was now reduced to an occasional purr, and it was only then that the three heroes realized how drenched they were. While Honeydew was fighting against a few monsters that still waited at the doorstep, and Annahvi was busy wringing out her hair, Xephos was looking around the house they were in, but paused when he was face-to-face with a rather odd fellow. Um_Bongo. "Oh my God!" Xephos said as he flinched away, "There's someone in here! Um_Bongo...Hello...?"

To say the least, Um_Bongo's clothes were certainly exotic. His face was completely covered with a wooden mask with bright colors, and his only proper clothing was a skirt made of grass. He had a strange necklace of bones with a collar of grass around his neck, and his dark skinned arms and chest was painted with colors similar to those on his mask.

"Ugh," Honeydew sighed as she slammed the door shut, "Oh guys, it was terrible ou-"

...

"What on Earth is this?"

"Did that zombie hit me in the head," Annahvi grumbled, "Cause there's a funny looking man in this room and I'm not talking about Simon."

"Enter please!" the strange man grunted, "Master upstairs!" And with that, he ran up the stairs to the second floor. Seeing no other option, the three heroes and Spacker followed upstairs, but they practically dropped their jaws when they saw the Master of the house.

"Skylord_Jasper?!" Annahvi laughed in surprise.

"Heroes! It's great to see you alive! Wlecome to the SKylords' Summer Retreat!"

"It's great to _be_ alive," Annahvi laughed as she gave him a firm handshake, "Oh God, you won't believe the shit we've been through a-"

...

"What the hell are you wearing?"

She looked the Skylord up and down in bewilderment. Albeit, Annahvi only had two encounters with Skylord_Jasper - one of which involved being yelled at, and the other involved being yelled at and chased all around Mistral City - but neither her nor her friends remembered Skylord_Jasper wearing white trousers and a bright red jacket with epaulettes.

"Do you like it? Suave eh?"

"It's great..." Xephos began, but his voice slowly trailed off to a mumble, "He look's like Freddy Mercury."

"Well it's certainly different," Annahvi chuckled softly.

"I'm sure you have many questions!-"

"We do have a lot of questions, actually," the Space Man continued.

"Do you like bees?"

"Do you have a map fragment?"

"A map fragment? I fear I have no idea."

"Do you happen to know where Lysander is?" Annahvi asked.

"Lysander is downstairs." Skylord_Jasper answered, but what was previously a cheery tone had now become jagged and strange. "Um...why is he downstairs?" Annahvi asked nervously.

"I locked him up for burning down Mistral City!"

"AUGH NOT AGAIN!" she groaned as she threw her hands to her face.

"When Mistral City was on fire, I went to his house, found him unconscious in his basement! So I brought him here, and tied him up!"

"But he wasn't to blame!" Xephos explained.

"Really! Who was it?"

"It was a pirate called Jock. Jock_Firebeard or something..."

"Proof!" Skylord_Jasper said stubbornly, I demand proof!"

Annahvi sighed in frustration, but Honeydew pulled from his inventory a flint and tinder. "This here is the flint and steel Jock used."

"That is not proof enough Dwarf!" he replied, turning away the flint and tinder.

"Can't you just take our word for it?" Annahvi asked, "I know it sounds crazy, but after everything that's been going on, this is probably the most reasonable thing that's happened in a long time!"

"You may not speak with him, he is far too dangerous." the Skylord declared, before his voice became kind once more, "But now it is late! You must sleep, I'll answer questions in the morning. However, I must ask you do not enter the basement! The paint is still damp!"

"Okay," Xephos sighed.

"Oh boy!" Honeydew yelled in an almost robotic voice, "Am I tiredy Dwarf!" And with that, Skylord_Jasper lead the four adventurers into the guest room, which was coincidentally the room right behind him. It was a rather nice room, with four beds and windows looking over the land below.

"And please, keep in your own beds!" Skylord_Jasper said, looking at Annahvi with a suggestive glance.

"O-Of course..." she muttered, looking away. Without any warning, Honeydew collapsed into the bed nearest to him and began snoring loudly, Xephos crept into one of the other beds, and without a second glance Skylord_Jasper left the room. The moment the Space Man heard the door click, he quickly hopped out of bed and turned to Honeydew, who was still snoring. "Okay wake up!" he said, shaking his friend back and forth, "Simon! Simon, wake up!" to which Honeydew replied by abruptly waking up and jumping out of his bed.

"Oh God, yeah the plan!" he said, "The plan, right, sorry. Oh God, I got uh...Sorry ugh. I was so tired!

"Heroes, if you please," Spacker said quietly, "This is all a bit suspicious. I'll distract the dandy."

"A great idea!"

"You fellas have a poke around and see what ye can find, I'll make some Sleepy Sleepy Dwarf sounds."

"Of course," Annahvi sighed as she, Xephos, and Honeydew quietly tip-toed out of the room. They quietly crept down the wooden staircase ever so slowly, as if the slightest movement would alert Skylord_Jasper to their whereabouts. When they reached the first floor, Xephos instantly began to wander around the first floor in hopes of finding the basement while Annahvi kept watch and Honeydew mocked a Creeper outside of the house. First Xephos entered the kitchen, but all he could find was pantry full of food, and the dining room was completely bare. However, it was his third attempt when he looked up at a sign that hung above the door.

"What does that say? 'Fungeon'? Does that say Fungeon? I can't quite read it 'cause it's so dark," But when he opened the door he was rewarded with a set of stairs that lead to a single door and a portrait of Skylord_Jasper in a set of different clothes but by no means any less stranger.

"Oh my God," he said as nervously he walked down the stairs, his eyes never leaving the disturbing portrait "Okay, this looks..."

"OH MY GOD!" Honeydew laughed in his high voice, "What's that? What is that? Um..."

"It's a picture of a sexy Skylord."

"I really didn't need to see that," Annahvi grumbled as she covered her eyes with her face, "Look, I'll go back to the door and keep watch, you let me know what you find. I just...I need to calm down."

Xephos and Honeydew watched as their friend quickly ran up the stairs to the doorway before looking back at the portrait of Skylord_Jasper, and then at the single door. Nervously, Xephos pulled the lever beside the door, revealing sights stranger still.

The 'Fungeon' was very tiny, and the floor was made of of black and lavender carpet. There was a small chest beside a table, and on the other side was a single block of black cloth. But that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was the sight of Skylord_Lysander, in only tight leather trousers, a red ball gag in his mouth, and hitting his fists against a cadge wall. The moment Skylord_Lysander and Xephos saw one another, he groaned in despair.

"Be quite down there, dear!" Skylord_Jasper called from upstairs.

"Is there a way out of this?" Xephos said nervously as he looked around the room.

"Key! Look, behind you, Lewis!" Honeydew said, pointing to a sign that hung above the black wool, "Look behind you. 'Key Goes Here'!"

Skylord_Lysander sputtered and choked as he finally managed to remove the gag from his mouth before looking at Honeydew and Xephos. "Lysander!"

"Oh God, it's you! Wait...I mean...Thank goodness it's you! You've got to get me out!" He began pacing back and forth in his small cadge, but after a bit, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the two men once again, "If you two are here, then where..."

"Hey, Simon, Lewis!" Annahvi called, her voice getting louder and louder, "I'm pretty sure Skylord_Jasper's starting to get suspicious!"

"Oh shit, son." Honeydew muttered as Annahvi walked into the room.

"Look, you guys have got t-"

She pause right in mid sentence before slowly turning her head to face Skylord_Lysander, a look a pure bewilderment on her face. But soon, that bewilderment was quickly replaced with a string of uncompleted words as her face began to glow beet red. Meanwhile, Skylord_Lysander was having his own little panic attack. "L-Look," he stammered, "I-I'll explain everything! You see when you-"

"Just tell me how to get you out of there," Annahvi said firmly as she began to leave the room.

"Jasper sleeps with the key...It's in his room...He kidnapped me when I was on my way out of Mistral!"

"That's all I needed to know."

"He sleeps with the key?!" Xephos panicked before turning to Annahvi and Honeydew, "Do you know what's going to have to happen, guys?"

"Am I going to have to murder him with this axe?"

"No!" Xephos said between laughs, "No, you are going to have to seduce him with your Dwafish charms."

"What?!"

"Yeah, and then-"

"WHAT."

"While he's sleeping you need to-"

"Bugger this!" Annahvi screamed as she took off her cloak and pushed it between the bars of the cadge. "Just wear this until we can get you out of there." And with that, the Elf left the Fungeon.

"In Notch's name..."

_THUD!_

"Just kill me already..."

_THUD!_

"STOP HITTING YOUR HEAD ON THE WALL!" Annahvi screamed from upstairs.

Xephos and Honeydew could only glance at each other nervously before running out of the room, leaving Skylord_Lysander to repeatedly hit his head against the stone.

They hurried up the stairs and back into the main area of the first floor, only to see that Annahvi was knocking on Skylord_Jasper's door. "Annahvi!" Xephos whispered, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Are you _really_ going to try and seduce him to get the key" Honeydew asked.

"What? Of course not! I was going to threaten him and lock him in his room."

She banged her fist on the door once again before Skylord_Jasper opened up in confusion. "You...punched?"

"Please give me the key," Annahvi said bluntly. Xephos and Honeydew just sighed as the Skylord looked at her in disbelief. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The key! To the cell in the basement!"

Skylord_Jasper just stood in shock for a moment and blinked, but soon his expression change completely. "Oooh, I see what you want."

"Yeah I'd like the key, please."

"You want to have a little fun with Lysander and me..."

...

"WHAT?!"

The entire mansion rattled as Annahvi screamed at him while Honeydew and Xephos hid under the stairs. But Skylord_Jasper was still smiling deviously as he grabbed Annahvi's arm, "Oh, I have the perfect thing for you."

"T-Thing?!"

"C'mon, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Wh-What? No! NONONONONONONO!"

Xephos and Honeydew just looked at each other nervously as they heard the sound of Annahvi screaming and the sound of things falling over and breaking. By the sound of the struggle going on upstair, it was pretty obvious that Annahvi had made a terrible decision on her part.

"Is she going to be alright up there?" Xephos asked.

"Um...sure..." Honeydew said, his voice growing higher as he spoke. They carefully crept up the stairs, although they were _certain_ that Skylord_Jasper had seen them, and quietly entered the room; thank God he had left the door open. The first level they could hear Annahvi and Skylord_Jasper upstairs. She was still fighting against him, but at least she wasn't screaming. "Let's just get the key and get out of here!" Xephos whispered, but the first floor did not bear any fruit, which only left one option.

"Okay, I'll go on the left, you go on the right."

Reluctantly, they climbed the stairs to Skylord_Jasper's bed. On both sides of the bed were two chests, and on the bed was Annahvi, lying on top of the Skylord with his arms wrapped around her waist and he ankles tied together. "This is so wrong on so many levels." she grumbled. He just laughed to himself as Annahvi tried to squirm away, but as she did she was able to catch a glance at Xephos before he quickly motioned for her to be silent.

Unfortunately, neither chests provided the key to free Skylord_Lysander, leaving all three heroes in confusion. But then as Annahvi shifted away, or rather _tried _to, she saw the key. It was in his trouser pocket.

"Oh for cryin' out loud..." she grumbled.

Only seconds later, Xephos and Honeydew were running out of the room, a look of horror on their faces. They ran as fast as they could down the stairs to the first floor and into the Fungeon. Skylord_Lysander, who was wearing Annahvi's cloak, could only watch in confusion as they ran into the room, panting. "Did you find it?" he asked.

"Yes and no," Xephos sighed.

"Oh!" Honeydew said as he began to rummage through his inventory, "I've got an idea!" And with that, he pulled out a crate of TNT.

"NO!" both the Skylord and Space Man yelled.

"Nononononono! This is an enclosed space!"

"What do you mean?!" Honeydew asked as he turned to Skylord_Lysander, who was trying to move as far away as possible from him, "Look, Lysander it will be fine! TRUST ME! Trust me, I know what I'm doing!"

He laughed as his friend began to craft together a key for the cell, but as they were laughing about, Skylord_Lysander froze. "What happened to Annahvi?"

"Um...Yeah, about that, she and Jasper-"

"YOU LEFT HER WITH JASPER?!"

"In my defense, she was the one who approached him."

"Look," Xephos sighed, "Just relax, okay? I've got a key." And within minutes the cell was open and Skylord_Lysander stepped out. "Ah! Freedom!"

"There's a leather tunic in there, in the chest." Xephos said as he looked inside the chest beside the table, and handed him the faded leather.

"We must get to Skyhold!" he explained as they left the Fungeon and began walking upstairs, but not before Honeydew could grab the portrait of Skylord_Jasper. "Don't ask. I want a memento!"

They left the room and entered the main room, and from the bedroom above came Annahvi, hair and clothes terribly ruffled with, red marks all over her neck.

"Come back, love! We were just getting started!" Skylord_Jasper said innocently as he followed after her, but instantly paused when he saw Skylord_Lysander walking about.

"What are you doing!"

"Run!"

Skylord_Lysander swung the door open and the three of them ran out into the rain with Annahvi and Skylord_Jasper following behind.

"He's a very naughty boy!" Skylord_Jasper yelled as Annahvi ran both to her friends and away from him, "He should be punished!"

"Take me with you!" Um_Bongo yelled as he followed behind, but Honeydew and Xephos could only laugh in horror. They through the front lawn and out to a pier, but as they were reaching the end of the dock Xephos looked behind and screamed when he saw a familiar Creeper following close behind.

Without thinking, Xephos jumped into the water, leaving his Dwarven friend to face the monster, but suddenly a blade sliced right through the Creeper, and it disappeared, revealing Spacker.

"Wait! Lysander! Lover!" Skylord_Jasper yelled as Honeydew, Um_Bongo, Annahvi, Spacker, and Skylord_Lysander boarded onto an enormous ship, but as Xephos jumped onto the ladder running down the ship, he failed to grasp the rungs in time and fell into the water once more.

"No Jasper!" Skylord_Lysander yelled as he looked down from the ship, "We must go! The Fate of Minecraftia depends on it! You stay here and look after the Mansion."

Skylord_Jasper attempted to climb up the ship, but once he reached the top, Honeydew knocked him back down and into the lake below. Meanwhile, Skylord_Lysander and Annahvi were frantically searching around the ship when Xephos finally managed to climb aboard. He quickly scrambled onto the wooden surface and knocked down some of the ladder.

"Why!" Skylord_Jasper yelled, "Skylord_Lysander!" And just as he began to made his way back to the mansion, the rain began to stop and the sky began to clear.

"Heroes, I found the flight planes!" Skylord_Lysander said as he hand everyone an individual map, "We can make our way to the Skyhold! There should be planes stowed in the cabin."

"Ah!" Spacker said, "This map shows he location of Stoneholm!"

The map was a large scale that covered BBQ Bay, Jasper's Mansion, and a few other marked locations unknown to none of the heroes. In one corner, was a strange set of buildings that vaguely resembled a compass rose, and in the bottom corner was the edge of The Desert. "Please, find me at Stoneholm when you're finished with these sky-men! Farewell!"

"Farewell...dead...Dwarf...thing," Skylord_Lysander said, "What?"

"It's kind of a long story," Annahvi shrugged as Spacker left the large ship.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Xephos asked as he inspected the map.

"We're heading to the SKyhold, can you see it? The large white structure in the ocean."

"Many thank you," Um_Bongo grunted, "This map show way home. I give Dwarf...BIG HUG!" And with that, the odd tiki man gave Honeydew a great big hug before jumping off the ship.

"Right heroes, we fly...to Victory!"


	29. Chapter 27

"Right, now let's see where Jasper has put the planes!"

The Elf, Space Man, and Dwarf followed Skylord_Lysander to one of the larger sails and began to climb down to the lower decks, but after a bit of searching around the three came to the conclusion that their Skylord friend was completely lost.

"He's remodeled a bit um," he said as they climbed downwards. However, suspicions began to rise when they saw a bright pink bed.

"This is a little bit dodgy." Xephos said, but Skylord_Lysander just laughed.

"I thought you mind need some snacks," he explained as he motioned to two chests, "That's why we're here, I'm not lost!"

"Uh-huh,"

"Ah be quite," he chuckled, playfully punching Annahvi in the shoulder. She was just about to come up with another smart remark when her thoughts were interrupted by Honeydew and Xephos. "Wow! Jaffa Cakes that spell 'LOL'."

Annahvi peeked her head over Xephos shoulder and was surprised to see that both chests were filled to the brim with little miniature cakes with chocolate on top. She picked one up in curiosity; the texture was quite spongey.

"So this is Jaffa Cake?"

"Have you never tried one before?"

"I didn't even know they existed." Upon saying, both Honeydew and Xephos looked at her in shock while Skylord_Lysander just laughed. "You should try one, they're delicious!"

"Maybe some other time," she laughed as she placed a few a handfuls of cakes into her inventory. With that done, they climbed up the mast and headed back up to the main deck where they followed Skylord_Lysander to a small hatch with a sign above which read: To Cannon Deck and Cargo Hold. "This looks right!" he said as he opened the hatch and climb down. They climbed down into the cannon rack and then further down to the bunkers before finally coming across another set of ladders which lead to the cargo hold. "Ah!" Skylord_Lysander said as Xephos placed down another torch, "Somewhere in here!"

The hold was fairly lit and inside were stacks and stacks of chests which held a great deal of random objects. But at least _one_ of them held the planes. "I can't find any!" The Skylord said. Annahvi continued down the hold but paused when she suddenly realized that her feet had become wet. "Lysander, the hold has been flooded!"

"Ignore the water, it's a decoration!" Honeydew was able to cross over to the other side of the hold, in the very last chest were the planes, finally! Inside were all sorts of models and several spare parts.

"Biplane and a Fokker-Dr1! Perfect!"

"I beg your pardon?" Honeydew joked.

"I think you need some coal," Xephos continued as he searched through some of the other chests, "To be able to actually go into the plane."

"I've got a load of coal,"

"Get some fuel! Just in case!" Skylord_Lysander warned.

"Okay!" Honeydew said after giving Annahvi a stack of coal, "So I just plunk the plane down, I get in it, and I fly off!"

"Wait what?!" Annahvi asked. She and Skylord_Lysander looked in shock as Honeydew was already seated in the Biplane, propellor spinning and engine running. "Um...I can see why you're not a Skylord."

Xephos laughed in disbelief as Honeydew began to move forward, but it was only a matter of time before disaster struck. The moment the propellor came into contact with the wooden wall, the entire plane began to groan in protest before it fell apart. Bits of metal and wood flew through the air and everyone had to shield themselves from the oncoming shrapnel. Once the engine had stopped with a sputter the plane was reduced to a pile of parts, which Xephos quickly picked up, but then everyone looked up and was shocked to see that their Dwarven friend was no longer in the hold with them.

"What the hell?!" Annahvi sighed, "Where's Simon?"

"Look above you!" Skylord_Lysander pointed, and above their heads they could just barely see Honeydew's white title.

"Oh God!" Xephos said as he looked up, "Are you okay?! What...What happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Honeydew yelled, his voice obviously muffled, "I hit the wall and I went through it!"

Meanwhile, Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander were completely dumbstruck and could only watch as Honeydew's title began to move away, forming incomplete words all the while. Finally, however, Xephos was able to break the wooden wall between the hold and the Jaffa Cakes, and on the other side was the Dwarf.

"I don't know where the plane is, I lost the plane!" Honeydew said, "There might be a rogue plane!"

"Hang on," Xephos said as he looked through his inventory, "I've got bits of plane. Take all the bits of plane."

Skylord_Lysander still looked at the two in disbelief before turning to Annahvi, "I don't understand what just happened."

"I have...no idea, either..."

"I'll...be on the deck...don't break the laws of physics any more than you already have."

"I think I'll join you," Annahvi sighed, "It's starting to feel a little cramped in here."

And with that, Xephos and Honeydew watched their friends leave the cargo hold as quickly as possible.

Annahvi sighed dramatically once they reached the main deck before quickly lying down on the wooden floorboards, staring off into the midday sky. But as she watched the clouds slowly float by, she could hear Skylord_Lysander chuckle in amusement.

"Tired?" he asked as she looked up at him, partially out of irritation.

"Well I was up all night trying to get that bloody key." she chuckled, carefully adjusting herself on the landing strip. He looked down at her in confusion before sitting down beside her, leaning back and staring up into the sky. They remained in that position, not saying a word, not making a move. Annahvi looked at him in confusion before looking back to the sky above. After a few more seconds, she spoke out.

"...So you and Skylord_Jasper, huh?"

"Shut up..." he grumbled in response, but Annahvi couldn't help but chuckle softly to herself. He looked down at her as she stared up at the sky and clouds above, her eyes half closed, but he noticed a sense of confusion and concern.

"You _do_ know that I'm not in an actual relationship with Jasper, right?" She didn't say a single word, and after a few minutes Skylord_Lysander burst out into laughter.

"SERIOUSLY!?"

"Shut up," Annahvi grumbled as she stood up and walked away from the laughing man. When she sat down once more, she looked up from the floor and was surprised to see Isis right in front of her. "And where the hell have you been?"

_"Looking around the mansion,"_ she answered before turning her head and looking back to Skylord_Lysander._ "Did you really think they were in a serious relationship?"_

"Fuck off," she growled as she sat down, turning away from her shadow. As she turned away from Isis, she noticed Skylord_Lysander alongside Xephos and Honeydew, hovering over a strange crafting table, surrounded with bits of machinery and supplies.

The Skylord turned to the table and instantly he began to get to work placing together all of the proper parts. Within seconds, he had a properly built Biplane for Honeydew. "Simple!"

Xephos watched in shock as he saw Honeydew place down the Biplane, and in the broad daylight, he was able to see the brightly colors parts. "Wow..." And then her turned to Skylord_Lysander plane, which had a very cute floral print. "Double wow. What is going on with these planes?"

"They...They're beautiful! They're the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

"If you say so," Annahvi sighed, approaching her friends just as Xephos placed down his Fokker-Dr1, before turning to Skylord_Lysander, "I think there were only three planes, so I think two of us are go in one plane."

"Well I'm not giving up this plane!" Honeydew said, "And I'm certainly not getting in a plane with Lewis!"

"Why not?"

"I've seen you pilot a plane, and personally, I'd rather take my chances with Jasper back there."

Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander watched the two of them bickering before the Elf groaned in irritation and grabbed Skylord_Lysander's shoulder and hopped into the passenger seat behind him. "Considering you're a Skylord, I'll take my chances with you."

"Flattering," he laughed before turning to the other two heroes, "Chocks away! To the Skyhold!"

The fuel tanks were burning with coal, the propellors were spinning smoothly, and all landing gears and wings were in perfect condition. Skylord_Lysander placed on his goggles as he watched Xephos and Honeydew head off of the flight platform before they slowly began to descend to the ground. Because Xephos' plane was faster than Honeydew's, the two heroes almost had a head-on collision just as they got off the platform, but Honeydew was able to pull up and Xephos was able to go down. Unfortunately, that still left the Space Man dangerously close to the ocean, which was now only a few feet below.

"PULL UP!" Honeydew yelled, "PULL UP!"

Nervously, Xephos grabbed the lever in front of him and began to slowly jerk back, and behind him the elevator slowly began to shift and the plane rose.

Annahvi breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her friends flying high before peering over Skylord_Lysander, who had placed on his goggles and was busy with the controls. He turned to her in confusion before he smiled. "There's no need to be afraid," he laughed, "I can assure you a safe trip to the Skyhold."

"I never said I was scared!"

"Isn't that what you told me when we were going to down onto Jasper's home?"

"Just start the plane," she chuckled.

As Skylord_Lysander began to toy with the controls, Annahvi could only sit anxiously. The plane sputtered to life, the propellor began to spin, and body jerked forward with a mighty roar. The nose of the plane followed the beeline in the platform made of white paint which lead to the end of the ship. As the plane wheeled close and close to the edge, Annahvi close her eyes and clenched her fists so tight she was certain that the skin in her knuckles would split. But even when she was sure that they had reached the end of the ship, she couldn't feel any obvious change. Nervously and slowly, she opened her eyes and was amazed to see the plane soaring through the sky, over the forest and ocean below. She couldn't help but laugh in disbelief as she looked over the plane and into the forest, amazed at the sudden change in shape of enormous trees and massive hills. Skylord_Lysander spared a quick glance at the amazed Elf and chuckled to himself as they climbed higher and higher.

While the trip was short, it was certainly eventful. Annahvi gazed in the distance as she saw a strange figure in the distance, and as the planes flew in closer, she realized that the shadowy figure was in fact several different buildings. "Take an arial tour!" Skylord_Lysander yelled above the engine as he slowly turned the plane to circle around the several buildings.

The entire structure consisted of five buildings, four of which were connected to one larger massive building in the center. The building in the center, along with the one due South was made completely of sandstone, dusted on top with a layer of snow. The building to the East was constructed of mossy cobblestone and had an enormous cluster of oak trees adorned with cobwebs sprouting on top. The third building to the North was made of snow and ice with a large waterfall below, which made the structure almost completely transparent, and on top was a small family of pine trees, covered in snow. Finally, the last building was the one to the West, made completely of Netherrack. Fire littered the tops of the building, lava poured from the Netherrack and glowstone was embedded into the base of the floating island, but instead of a healthy green tree there was a withered old tree, which bore no leaves nor fruit.

After Skylord_Lysander had finished showing Annahvi the different buildings of the Skyhold, he directed the plane to an obsidian walkway on the Southmost building, where the plane slowly and gracefully landed. Once the plane had come to a full halt, Annahvi carefully stepped out and onto the walkway alongside her Skylord friend. "Welcome to the Skyhold," he announced, "This is where most of the Skylords reside, and I from what I can see I'd say that a carnival has decided to set up their camp here. Annahvi turned to him and cocked her head to the side in confusion. "How on Earth do you know that?" But then she followed his gaze to a familiar aircraft which displayed a familiar face. "Oh. It's them."

"You know them?"

"We've had the honor of meeting," she chuckled sarcastically, but as she turned to face Skylord_Lysander, her gaze slowly shifted to a strange figure behind him, approaching the landing strip very quickly. Realizing that Annahvi was staring off into space, he arched is brow in confusion.

"Annahvi?"

"You might want to duck." she advised before grabbing his sleeve and pulling him down. Only seconds afterwards, they heard the sound of a plane engine growling accompanied by horrified screaming. There was a second of silence before the peace was broken with the sound of an explosion. Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander cautiously rose to their feet and were partially indifferent when they saw a familiar Dwarf sitting in the middle of the landing strip, surrounded by parts of a Biplane.

"Again?"

"Oh, and here comes Xephos,"

Annahvi watched with a sense of impending doom as she watched Xephos nearing the walkway. Unfortunately, he had misjudged his landing and instead crashed onto a nearby pillar. Skylord_Lysander, Annahvi, and Honeydew quickly ran to the edge of the landing strip to see him amongst scattered parts of a Fokker.

"I had a feeling I chose the right pilot," Annahvi chuckled to herself.

"Hello. What are you doing down there, man?"

"You crashed!" Skylord_Lysander said as the Space Man began to build his way to his friends "You crashed badly! If you had a plane you could fly up here! But you crashed!"

"Follow me," the Skylord said once everyone had gathered their wits, walking down from the landing strip and to the central building. Annahvi looked around her in amazement as they followed Skylord_Lysander. From the plane, the buildings look rather large, but from a proper perspective, they were massive! She couldn't help but turn around, always seeing something different, but just as she turned to face forward, she bumped right into Skylord_Lysander.

"Oof! Careful now," he laughed, "You don't want to make a wrong step up here."

She laughed in agreement, but the merriment came to an abrupt end when a loud voice echoed through the buildings.

"Stop Lysander! You know the rules."

Annahvi poked her head out from behind the Skylord and was shocked to see another man standing before them. His skin was a sickly colored pale, and his hair was as black as obsidian with gray streaks, and ominous maroon eyes yet he had a familiar pair of flight goggles, and wore a uniform similar to Skylord_Lysander's. Above his head was a title which read: "Skylord_Vitali?" Annahvi read slowly, and instantly the man turned to her, Xephos, and Honeydew with a look of contempt.

"Why do you bring outsiders to Skyhold?" he hissed, venom dripping from every syllable, "Out of good will, I will give you a chance to explain."

"Step aside, Vitali! A terrible evil is loose in this world! We must speak to Skylord_Amber immediately!" But upon hearing this, Skylord_Vitali sighed, before speaking again. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. She is dead, and others have vanished."

Instantly, Skylord_Lysander's expression changed completely. What was once mere irritation had now become shock and horror. "WHAT!"

"I think they fled. Only I and Skylord_Baako remain."

"WHen did this happen?! WHEN?!"

"Only recently - when that creepy carnival came into town." the older man answered, causing a sense of dread to settle over the heroes.

"Then there is no time to lose!"

"Why are you here Lysander?"

"Quite!" Skylord_Lysander instructed, "Take me to Baako, it is a matter of utmost urgency!"

"Very well!"

And with that, Skylord_Vitali lead the four to a nearby building, but once they reached the entrance they were surprised to see Madame_Nubescu standing at the door. While Honeydew, Xephos, and Annahvi were partially indifferent to seeing a woman who had helped them previously, Skylord_Vitali had a look absolute hatred towards her, even worse than how he viewed the three heroes. "I told you to say away from him, you witch!" he spat, "She's trying to kill him, Lysander!"

"Nubescu is not!" the Madame spoke up, "Ja only be gettin' in da way!"

"Kill him?" Annahvi said softly to herself and Isis, before the shadow gently tapped her on the shoulder and motioned to a nearby window. Inside was an old man with dark skin and light hair. His clothes were starched white and had black shoes on. Even though he was obviously very old, he looked terribly ill and was groaning in pain. Skylord_Lysander turned to the other Skylord, "Vitali, get some rest. I'll handle this." And with that, the Skylord walk off and other turned to Madame_Nubescu. "Madame, we would like to speak to Baako."

But without even saying anything, Honeydew walked up to her, handed her a few ingots of gold and opened the door, letting everyone quickly file inside of the building.

"Grandfather!" Skylord_Lysander said as he ran to the side of the old man.

"I fear it is late..." Madame_Nubescu spoke up with regret, "He is close to da end.

"I must speak with him one last time!" he insisted.

"He is old...old an' sick."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"I've got a golden apple!" Xephos spoke up, revealing the healing fruit in his hands.

"Ahhh! Dat could help him, mon! Pass it to me, mon!"

Xephos tossed the apple to Madame_Nubescu, but the four adventurers came to the realization that Skylord_Baako was far too weak to properly consume the Golden Apple, so how would he be able to be healed? Madame_Nubescu was quick to answer that question, although it was a rather disgusting solution.

"Oh God, she's just...She's just vomiting it all over his face!"

Despite how disgusting it was, Xephos and Annahvi couldn't help but laugh, but eventually all three heroes decided it was best to simply turn a blind eye. "He should be batter, mon." the Madame finally said after a few awkward seconds. "Urgh, ah." Skylord_Baako groaned in pain as he stirred before turning to his grandson, "Lysander, is that you?

"It is me, grandfather. What happened here?" he asked, before turning to his friends, "I think he's a little mad."

"I know not. Time is short, you have come for the map fragment?"

"Yes!"

"Are the legendary heroes with you?"

"They are!"

"Then they must complete the tests of the Skylords."

"The tests...but..."

"After they complete the tests, they can enter the control room!" Skylord_Baako then turned to the three heroes. "Heroes, you must use your head, but not for the goggles!"

"Can't we just have the map fragment?" Skylord_Lysander asked, "I don't understand, Grandfather!" He looked at her grandfather in confusion and frustration, but the old man only smiled, as if a heavy burden had been relieved from him.

"You will, in time. Farewell, young one."


	30. Chapter 28 - Part 1

**Before you read, I just want to get a few things out of the way. First, I'm going to be unavailable for the next week, due to Spring Break. Second, this is obviously a two-part chapter because I couldn't cram all of part 28. You'd be surprised how many times I had to rewrite this, and this is only Part 1!**

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><p>Skylord_Baako finally closed his eyes and his breath silently faded away as his body slowly relaxed. But within seconds, the sound of horrified screaming echoed throughout the Skyhold.<p>

The door was flung open, allowing Annahvi to sprint out of the Hospital and collapse onto her hands and knees. From behind her, she could hear Honeydew and Madame_Nubescu screaming as they examined the bloody remains of Skylord_Baako's corpse. She tried to block out the sounds of the Dwarf's disgusted yelling, but it was impossible to ignore the screaming while the scent of blood wafted through the air. Her stomach began to lurch forward, but thankfully she calmed down after taking in a few deep breaths, trying her best to block out the thick metallic stench.

"MON!" Madame_Nubescu screamed in horror as she teared her eyes away from the blood-stained walls. Xephos turned to Honeydew, who had hidden himself in the corner of the room, before looking back to the blood-soaked bed that held nothing but the bone and muscles of an unfortunate man. Skylord_Lysander unsteadily approached the hospital bed, his voice barely audible - no louder than a whisper, "Grandfather..." His eyes were wide and wild, and skin now a deathly pale. The Skylord stood dead in his tracks for what felt like an eternity, until he slowly raised his head and turned to face Xephos and Honeydew.

"Heroes," he began, his voice wavering slightly as he attempted to regain his composure, "You heard my grandfather's last words. You must complete the trials and become Skylords."

"'Dis be not good, mon." Madame_Nubescu mumbled as the three men quickly filed out of the Hospital and joined Annahvi.

"Do we get goggles?" Xephos asked in an attempt to lighten the mood, before adding, "Also, what do these trials entail?"

"Ugh..." Honeydew moaned as he slumped over the river.

"Are you okay?" Xephos turned to his friend in concern before looking back to Skylord_Lysander, "Just have a little drink."

"Rare items-"

"UUUUUUUURRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHH HHHHH!"

Instantly Annahvi and Xephos turned in confusion to see their dear Dwarven friend vomiting into the river beside them. Despite the urgency of the situation, Xephos couldn't help but laugh in disbelief while Annahvi and Skylord_Lysander began to feel terribly unwell.

"Rare items are held on the three elemental areas on the edge of Skyhold." the Skylord continued, "I must want you! They are full of danger! So prepare yourself!"

"Oh of course they are..." Honeydew sighed as he stood upright, with the help of Annahvi and Xephos.

"You've got a nice empty stomach," the latter said optimistically before reaching into his inventory and taking out a chocolate covered cake, "Fancy a Jaffa Cake?"

"No not now!" Honeydew said as he turned away from the sickeningly sweet treat. "Uh, I'll have...I'll have one later; I can't even look at it now.""

"Find me once you have all three items," Skylord_Lysander instructed before he began to march off into the darkness, "Meanwhile, I will find out who committed these terrible crimes and avenge my Grandfather."

They watched as he began to climb up the stairs until he disappeared into a nearby building.

"Okay," Xephos said as he and Annahvi followed behind Honeydew as they walked off in the opposite direction, "That's exciting. So where are we- Where are you _going_?"

The Dwarf opened the door to a random building, which revealed to be somebody's home.

"Straight into this house - do you know where you're going?"

"It's a nice house," Honeydew said softly as they examined the building. It wasn't as large as some of the other homes and buildings the heroes had previously been to, but it was certainly quaint. There was a single bed, chest, furnace, brick fireplace, and crafting table.

"Great," Annahvi said as she opened the chest, "I needed a place to put away all this shit we've picked up, and I could use some cooked pork."

"Do you reckon we should sleep 'till morning?" Xephos asked, "Since it's, like, still night."

"Well there's only one bed, Lewis." Honeydew said as the two of them left the building, "So, um...you know. I mean, we're best pals but, ya know, you've got to draw the line somewhere."

"Well that room over there's full of, like, blood and exploded Skylord remains." Xephos said, glancing back at the Hospital before noting the building that his friend had entered, a public tool shed. Leaving his friend to rummage through the shed, Xephos entered the nearby Church. "This is like some sort of church," Xephos said as he looked at the empty pews, "So there's no way we could sleep in here. Although there is some wool, so we could conceivably just nick some of this wool and make a quick bed."

"Can you use yellow wool to make a bed?" Honeydew asked as he watched the Space Man tear up the thick carpeting. "I think you can use _any_ wool, can't you?" he answered after gathering six blocks.

"Well I guess we'll find out."

"I haven't got any wooden planks, hang on is there a tree around here? Do you have any wooden planks?"

"There you are," Honeydew after handing Xephos a stack full of boards and joining him to the house. "What if, like, an old lady comes into the church and she stumbles because the floor's missing?"

However instead of a proper answer, Xephos quickly motioned for him to stop talking. The Dwarf raised a brow in confusion before noticing a figure hunched over, sitting in front of the furnace. Apparently Annahvi had fallen asleep right in front of the furnace while waiting for them. "Annahvi," Honeydew said softly, poking her right in the side of her head, "Are you awake."

"I am now," she grumbled before standing up with a loud and contagious yawn, "Did you guys find any beds."

"Yep," Xephos confirmed as he finished crafting the second one, "I'm just plop mine down here, right next to you."

"Is that carpet?" Annahvi laughed in disbelief as she quickly claimed the bed with proper sheets. "It was at the last minute," he laughed back before hopping into his own bed. "Goodnight, guys." Annahvi mumbled as she began to fall asleep.

"SLEEPY, SLEEPY DWARF!"

"Shut up, Simon."

Annahvi chuckled to herself alongside her friends until she closed her eyes once more and smiled in relief. With the loss of proper sleep for the past few days combined with the exhaustingly recent experiences, it was only a few microseconds before she was practically comatose. Even with the sound of Honeydew snoring and mumbling, the Elf was fast asleep within seconds.

When she opened her eyes once again, Annahvi was surprised that she wasn't at the Yogcave. She wasn't in the forest outside, she wasn't in Terrorvale, and she wasn't in Mistral City. As a matter of fact, she had absolutely _no_ idea where she was, but odds were it wasn't Minecraftia. All around her was an eerie fog that was so thick it was impossible to see beyond a few feet. Within the small circle of visibility, Annahvi was able to see a withered forest of dead black trees. Crisp leaves and patched of dried grass decorated the dirt dry land; a peculiar observation, considering the humidity that lingered in the air.

She looked around her in confusion, only to realize that her shadow was nowhere to be found. For once, she was completely alone; no Isis, no memories, no idea of where she was. Annahvi called out several times, but no matter how many times she yelled for Isis, no one came.

"Guess I'm on my own..." she grumbled softly. With hesitation, she began to trek off into the foggy woods.

As she continued through unknown territory, she began to take note of a few details, both big and small. The trees that had once made up a forest were in fact, arranged in a specific pattern, creating perfect rows, columns, and diagonal lines. And, though there wasn't a single green leaf on any of their branches, the leaves that strewn the ground were bright green, as if they had been recently picked off. Occasionally she would see a small patch of flowers growing around the base of the trees, very often a small bush of bright red roses and snow white lilies, and above the slight crunching of her boots over the hardened ground, she could hear an odd sound...Music? Her ears perked up as she stopped dead in her tracks and listened. Yes! It was music; the faint sound of music. Without thinking, Annahvi ran off to the direction of the music, barely able to pay any mind to the trees, leaves, or flowers.

It felt like an eternity, but finally Annahvi stopped her running as she reached the source of the music. A small ornate music box, not bigger than a deck of cards, lay discarded at the base of one of the trees. Annahvi carefully picked it up, and the moment she did so she realized that it was, in fact, broken. There was an ebony finish, but it had become faded. The inside was lined with red velvet, but it was torn and covered in dust, and inside was a tiny china doll, which had been tragically snapped from it's small podium in the middle of the box.

"How unfortunate..." Annahvi said in sympathy as she carefully closed the box and placed it in her inventory. It was then that she looked up at the tree in front of her.

She screamed in absolute terror.

Bodies. So many bodies...

They hung from the branches as if they were fruit, ripe for the picking. Their faces were a horrible color of faded blue with purple lips and half-lidded eyes and swollen lips. Annahvi could barely stand up as she watched them sway back and forth in the faint breeze. The ropes groaned, threatening to snap under the weight, but never allowing them to reach the ground. Normally she would be unfazed if she were to see corpses, she had killed an unknown number of the reanimated. But these were more than mere bodies. They were the people she had met in her travels, people she had come to accept as friends and family. Knight_Peculier, Father_Braeburn, Fumblemore, Granny_Bacon - all of them were in that tree. All of them were dead.

The world around her began to slowly crumble away into the endless darkness. The voices of her friends and comrades echoed through her mind, begging for help, moaning in agony, yelling absolute hatred.

_"You pathetic child!"_

_"Why couldn't you help us!?"_

_"You've doomed us all!"_

The sky began to become a pitch black darkness, and the trees around her slowly withered away into nothing but ash and bits of wood. The grass around her began a disgusting brown color, flowers wilted and died, and soon the ground around began to slowly give way. Within seconds, she was falling through dark nothingness, no sign of an end but in seem to matter anymore. She waited for the cold embrace of death.

Annahvi sat up with a gasp, her heart and head pounding with sweat pouring down her face. As she steadied her uneven breathing, she was amazed to see that she was back in the small house. Beside her were Xephos and Honeydew, sleeping soundly in their makeshift beds.

"Just a dream...?" she said between breaths. She looked back to her friends before looking out the window; the moon was still high in the sky. Had she only been asleep for a few hours? Less?

_"Annahvi...?"_ Isis asked nervously, _"A-Are you okay?"_

"Isis?" She quickly turned to see her shadow beside the bed, a look of both fear and concern clear in her eyes. And yet before anything could be said, Annahvi had already ran outside.

_"Annahvi! Annahvi, wait!"_

The air was a cold slap to the face compared to the cozy heat near the furnace and fireplace, but perhaps a good slap was exactly what Annahvi needed. The snow crunched under her feet as she walked off, until she reached a fountain. With the cold fresh water combined with the biting chill in the air, Annahvi was wide awake when Isis found her.

_"Annahvi..."_ Isis began speaking softly, _"I'm sorry... I was going to warn you, but I didn't know what you would find."_

"What I'd find?!" The Elf asked, almost as if she was joking, "You weren't going to tell me about _that_? You were't going to tell me that...I was going to see all of my friends dead? Everyone I had ever known, just gone like that?!" She could feel her voice beginning to quiver once again. Isis looked down on her with compassion, but it was near impossible for her to find the correct words. But finally, she sat beside Annahvi and took a deep breath.

_"Everyone has secrets. They have things they want to hide, things they're scared off. It is here when we see our greatest fears, our shames, parts of ourselves that we want to forget."_

Annahvi tried her best to speak out, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't find the right words.

_"I won't ask you to tell me what you saw, but I will ask that you don't tell anyone."_

"Isis..." Annahvi began, her voice uncertain, but Isis continued.

_"I'm not only asking this for me, but also for you. Do you honestly think that they will be perfectly fine, knowing that you stole a book, a book that is full of unknown secrets, from the Archives of Verigan's Hold? What would Templar_Adaephon say? What about Knight_Peculier, Xephos, and Honeydew? They might never forgive you."_

Annahvi could feel a bit of anger beginning to boil in the pit of her stomach, but arguing with Isis was a fruitless effort. Isis might be the only one who understood the secrets that were within the book, and right now losing an ally wouldn't help when fighting against Israphel. "Look," she sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I'll try my best to keep quite, but I make no promises."

_"I understand."_

Annahvi watched silently as Isis began to slowly fade from sight, until her shadow had finally left her. The Elf sighed softly as she took the book from her inventory, the purple gem in the middle shining brightly in the moon. She remembered when she first met Isis, and what she had told her.

_"When in one's possession, it grants the power to create, to change, to destroy..."_

But at what cost? Just as Annahvi had opened the book, she heard a familiar voice.

"Annahvi? Is that you?"

Upon instinct, she slammed the book and turn to see Skylord_Lysander. "Oh um...Hello, Lysander." she smiled weakly at him as she placed the book beside her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "It's the middle of the night."

"I know," she chuckled, "It's nothing, I just..um...I just needed some fresh air."

Skylord_Lysander watched as she smiled up at him, but he still couldn't escape the slight guilt that began to consume his thoughts. In truth, their friendship from Mistral City was only for a few days, but in those few days her somewhat infectious impulsiveness had become appealing. She was clearly hiding something...

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I, um...I just...had a bad dream."

"Oh...Um..." He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words, but before he could he was interrupted by the sound of laughter.

"I know," she sighed, "I sound like a little kid - being scared of bad dreams."

"There's nothing wrong with being scared sometimes." he finally said, sitting down beside her on the fountain. "Doesn't everyone get scared once in a while."

"Well...Yeah."

"Then there's nothing to be worried about. Besides, it's just a dream; it can't hurt you."

He smiled as she began to contemplate this, before finally blurting out, "I had a dream where I was swimming with a stingray."

"What?"

They continued to talk with one another about dreams, adventures, and anything else that could come to mind. Honestly, Skylord_Lysander didn't mind, as long as it kept Annahvi from being upset. Finally, though, they stopped talking. Annahvi stood up and smiled weakly, "I suppose I should get some sleep. Got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow."

"Same for me," he agreed, standing up. But as he did, he quickly picked up her book, which had been abandoned on the fountain's edge. "Here's your..." But as he began to speak, his voice slowly trailed off once he noticed the bright purple jewel.

"Oh! Thanks." Annahvi laughed taking the book from his hands, "I almost forgot about that."

"Um...Where did you get that?" Skylord_Lysander asked, fearing the answer she would give him.

"Huh? Oh, I er...picked it up during my travels. Did you want to borrow it?"

"No," he said, "I was just...curious."

"Well, if that's all I should get going." And with that Annahvi walked off, leaving Skylord_Lysander alone with his thoughts.

The book...How could she have...But did that mean...Dear Notch...

"...Heaven help us


	31. Chapter 28 - Part 2

**A/N: I'd like to thank you all for being very patient with my story. School's been a bit of a pain, but thankfully things are beginning to ease up. It turns out, this going to actually be a _three_-part chapter. You'll find out why in a bit.**

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><p>The next morning, Xephos and Honeydew stepped outside of their temporary home and were greeted by the most peculiar of weather. On one side of the Skyhold, snow floated down from above where it gently fell to the ground, coating the land with a light layer of snow. On the other side, however, heavy raindrop fell from the sky, soaking the soil beneath them with a loud echo.<p>

"Oh my God, wow!" the Space Man said as he stepped outside, "Look at this! It's sort of snowy-rainy? And there's a Creeper, like, behind that tree, did you see?"

"Is is hail?" Honeydew asked before he quickly registered the green monster's name. "Uh-oh. Stay away from him, just stay away."

"Hey, Annahvi Come check this out! Annahvi?"

Xephos looked back inside the house and was shocked to see that their friend was still in bed, fast asleep. He walked over to her and gently shook her back and forth, but she only responded by inching away from him.

"She's out cold." he laughed in disbelief, "Must've been exhausted yesterday."

"Well can we just leave her here?" Honeydew suggested, "I mean, we've got important places to be, Lewis."

"I suppose," he said with a reluctant shrug, before leaving the house and closing the door behind them. Perhaps she would wake up and accompany them later, if not then she'd simply have to go into the next area by herself while _they_ slept in. "What are we doing, do you remember?" he asked as they walked off, preferably in the opposite direction of the lurking monster.

"We're going to each of the...the three elemental areas that we saw when we flew over, right?"

"Okay, right. Is there one down here?" he asked, looking down a small path that lead to the outer edge of Skyhold. "I think this is the fire-y one." Honeydew suggested, "Cause it's all red."

"Good. Well, we might as well start as we mean to go on." Xephos said as he quickly followed behind Honeydew to the Trial of Fire.

Meanwhile, Annahvi had been sleeping very soundly; odds were she hadn't even heard them talking. But at the sudden clap of thunder, she instantly shot up from the bed. "I'M UP!" she screamed, struggling to untangle herself from the sheets, but ultimately falling and hitting the floor. "Ow..." Once she had completely removed the sheets off of her, Annahvi quickly came to realize that she was completely alone.

"Lewis, Simon?...Seriously?"

_"Annahvi?"_ Isis asked softly, _"What's wrong?"_

She sighed in irritation before stepping outside with her shadow following close behind, they had gone off without her. It seldom happened, but in retrospect it was understandable. Sometimes the only way to ensure Annahvi wouldn't get herself killed was to leave her behind. Once she had been left at the Yogcave to clean up and cook "like a good little housewife", she remembered Xephos said jokingly.

"Lewis!" she called out occasionally, "Simon! Where are you?"

But still there was no response. By now she had encircled the entire Skyhold and the weather had no intent of stopping the snow or rain. There was a one-in-three chance that she'd find them on one of the elemental areas, but if she was wrong odds were she would've wasted the day in vain. Perhaps a day off from adventuring wasn't such a bad thing. Unfortunately, there wasn't exactly anything to do when it comes to standing on a giant piece of land floating in the sky. Isis looked around in a mix of curiosity and confusion before turning back to Annahvi.

_"If you don't have anything to do, perhaps we can practice some?"_

By now the weather had began grow more violent, and occasionally Annahvi would see a flash of lightning, soon accompanied by the boom of thunder. By now her skin, and hair were throughly soaked, and it wouldn't be long before her clothes soon followed. The world around her echoed with the hissing of rain falling from above and the earthy scent of rainfall lingered in the air.

"That's probably a good idea," Annahvi shrugged.

_"Good, then close you eyes, and focus..."_

Skylord_Lysander paused for a second in confusion. What was Annahvi doing, standing out in the middle of the pouring rain? She didn't appear to be moving anywhere. She was just standing there, starring off into space. According to her throughly soaked hair and clothes, the he assumed that she had been out for a while. Where had Honeydew and Xephos gone? Well, it was an ideal opportunity to talk with Annahvi - albeit very unforeseen - about the concerning matters at hand.

"Annahvi," he called out, walking towards her, "What are you doing in the middle of the rain?" As he approached her, she turned to see him and slowly rubbed her eyes, as if awakening from a trance.

"I um...I kind of slept in." she laughed after a bit of hesitance, "I guess the guys left without me..."

She looked up at Skylord_Lysander with a somewhat embarrassed smile as she rubbed the back of her head. He looked at her in disbelief for a second as she continued to smile at him with that childish grin. It was only after a few second that he smiled back at her, with a bit of a chuckle. He only pause for laughing when he suddenly felt a few raindrops fall onto his face. He opened his eyes and realized that both of their clothes were completely soaked, along with their skin and hair.

"C'mon. We'd better get out of this rain."

With a slight nod, Annahvi followed behind Skylord_Lysander lead them to the nearest building he could see, which was a tiny wooden house next to a large outdoor fire pit, apparently.

It was only after they stepped inside that Annahvi realized how small this tiny house actually was. It was probably half the size of the small house Annahvi, Xephos, and Honeydew had been sleeping in, and most of the space inside was consumed with a bed, a chest, a crafting table, and a furnace, leaving a small amount of space for her and Skylord_Lysander to move about. "I think I have some pork and extra coal," Annahvi said as she knelt down in front of the furnace, "Let me...just..."

And after a few seconds of fumbling around, the Elf had finally got a fire roaring in the the furnace with a few cuts of pork cooking above.

"There are some blankets in here," Skylord_Lysander said as he searched through the chest beside them. As he sat beside Annahvi, drying himself off in front of the fire, he suddenly heard Annahvi laughing. He looked at her in confusion when he saw her chuckling softly to herself. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing," she chuckled, "This just kind of reminds me of Jasper and his pink towels."

"Oh yeah," he said reminiscently, "I went to apologize to him after you and the heroes left with Peculier, but when I tried, he began chasing me again. He only stopped after Father_Braeburn finally got him to calm down."

Annahvi tried her best to stifle her laughter, but she couldn't help and let a small giggle slip out. "I'm sorry," she said, slightly embarrassed, "I shouldn't laugh."

He turned to her with a smile, but as she looked up at him, she couldn't help but feel as though something was out of place. There was something about Skylord_Lysander that made him look...tired. It was something in his eyes, Annahvi thought, they were somewhat bloodshot, and there were a few dark circles under his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked Annahvi, "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no. Nothing like that..." she answered, trying her best to word her sentences correctly, "I just...You look like you've got a lot on your mind. Is everything alright?"

"I've been very busy trying to find out more about the other Skylords." he explained, "Unfortunately, I haven't found out very much, and I fear that this will take a lot of time."

"Well if you ever need help you can come to me, Lewis, or Simon." Annahvi said quickly, as she mentally cursed herself for forgetting about Skylord_Baako's death and the missing Skylords.

"I'll keep that in mind," Skylord_Lysander said as he ate one of the slices of cooked pork, "So how did you and the others meet Peculier in the first place? We certainly have plenty of time to talk until this storm clears up."

"God," Annahvi said with a bit of a sigh, "It feels like forever since we first met Knight_Peculier. Well...We were following Israphel down this stone path, but Lewis stopped us when we saw this wooden bridge. We followed over the bridge and continued down the path until we stopped and saw Knight_Peculier, named Old_Peculier during the time."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that. None of us could believe what we were seeing." the Elf laughed, "Up until then, we thought it was just the three of us, not including Israphel, of course. So obviously, we were just standing there like idiots with our mouths open."

As Skylord_Lysander laughed alongside Annahvi, he paused for a moment as he saw her face and slowly remembered what he was originally going to ask her. "Um...Annahvi," he said, "May I ask you another question?"

"I suppose..." she answered, concerned as she heard the seriousness in her voice.

"That book that you had last night, where did you find it?"

A chill ran down her spine when he asked that question, and before she could even say a word, she heard Isis behind her.

_"Annahvi, please don't say anything. Please!"_

"I...um...I found it while we were traveling around." she answered hesitantly.

"Do you remember where?" he asked, fearing the answer she would give him. Annahvi looked up at him, but the moment she saw his face she instantly looked back down. The lighthearted smile that was there only a few seconds before, was now replaced with a frown. He furrowed his brow in concern as she looked away nervously, she was scarred of something. "Annahvi," he said, "something is obviously troubling you, and I'm concerned. I don't want to see you get in trouble, so can you please tell me where you found that book?"

_"Annahvi, you better not tell him!"_

Her eyes darted back and forth between her shadow, and her friend. One looked in distain, and the other looked in worry. Finally, she blurted out, "I found it in Verigan's Hold!" and hid her face in her hands as if it would help her avoid the gaze of either people in the house. Skylord_Lysander sighed as he looked down at her. "Annahvi, do you know what you've gotten yourself into?"

"I'm sorry, I was so curious! I just _had_ to find out more!" She removed her hands from her face and looked up as the Skylord got up the the floor and began to pace back and forth, "Why are you so curious about this book, anyways?"

"There are a lot of old stories and legends about that book; none of them good. After some time, that book just became a fairy tale parents would tell their children at night, to scare them into being good. I never thought it was actually real, though, but I know that nothing good can come out of it."

"Why are you so certain about that?" Annahvi asked as she stood up, a slight bite to her words.

_"Annahvi," _Isis said, nervously, _"Try and stay calm."_

"That book is full of magic - a bad kind! People can't handle that sort of power; they're not strong enough!"

"Well what makes you think _I'm_ not strong enough?!"

"Because you aren't!" he snapped, "You aren't strong enough, and you can't be!"

"Why not!?" she yelled back.

"Because!"

"Because WHAT?!"

"Because...Because..."

Skylord_Lysander looked at Annahvi in pure frustration. He was struggling to make out proper words as she looked up at him with equal rage. Their tempers rose higher and higher, but finally he spoke out. He didn't even realize what he said.

"YOU'RE JUST A HELPLESS CHILD!"


	32. Chapter 28 - Part 3

**A/N: Part 3 already? That sure was quick. This chapter may appear very short, but it's actually just short of 3,000 words. The ending is very dialogue-based, so perhaps there lies the reason. Also, I'm considering creating a few extra SoD based stories and extra guff. If you want to see somewhat-original stuff, let me know.**

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><p>For a moment, Annahvi didn't even register what exactly he had said to her. She could see his mouth moving and his voice, but the words had become a faded mess. But once she realized what he had said to her, those words, his voice - they were all she could hear. Skylord_Lysander's voice echoed through her mind, the words rattling in her ears. It was harsh and thunderous, so unlike the warm and soft laughter she had heard only minutes before.<p>

_A helpless child..._

Of all the things Skylord_Lysander could've called her...An idiot, a bugger, a cock-up, nutter, prat. He had to say child. Was that all she was, a useless child? The only person that sympathized when the Celaeno had been destroyed, the one person that defended his name when everyone else thought he had turned, the only one amongst them who had treated him as a friend, not just a comrade - was just a helpless child?

Isis watched as Annahvi's hands turned into shaking fists. _"Annahvi," _she warned, _"Please, you have to stay calm! I can't help you unless you stay calm!"_

But it was far too late for that. Although the rain had ceased outside, the storm was just beginning.

"Well there we are." Xephos sighed as he joined honeydew at the entrance to the Trial of Fire, "We got one - one...One treasure that we needed, some fire,"

"Hurray!" Honeydew cheered.

"...and we've got about a _million_ porkchops to keep us going. Um...Okay. I'm feeling good!"

"Are you?" Honeydew asked as they headed back into the Skyhold.

"Yeah. So what's that -one down; one to go? Two to go, even."

"One down!"

"Where was our house, do you remember?" Xephos asked as he finally made his way into the Skyhold, "Or should we just brave the next one in the dark."

"I was just storming on ahead," Honeydew admitted as he made his way toward the Trial of Ice, "Is this the right way?"

"I guess," Xephos answered as he finally caught up with his Dwarven friend, careful to avoid any of the monsters lurking in the shadows.

"'Cause the...The landing place was South...I can see slimes, so yeah. I think this might be the right way. Aw! Isn't he adorable?"

Xephos watched in confusion as Honeydew laughed, for in the darkness he could just barely see the silhouette of a slime, before it suddenly fell through one of the small holes in the floor and into the icy waters below.

"Did he just flop...Did he just blob off the edge?" Xephos asked as he examined the small hole that the slime fell through, "Where did he go?"

"He blobbed off the edge?"

"Yeah. Well that's what they do, isn't it?" he continued as they reached the entrance to the Trial of Ice. He turned to a sign which hung above a chest against the wall. "No torches permitted or recommended,"

"No, because it would melt the ice."

"Oh my God, Simon!" Xephos exasperated as he looked down the entrance, "This looks ridiculous! Um..."

"Um...Maybe we should wait until daytime, Lewis." Honeydew suggested as they backed away from the Trial of Ice.

"Do you think so?"

"Yeah...I think maybe..." the Dwarf answered as they made their way back into the Skyhold, his voice becoming softer and higher with every word, "I don't fancy going through a lab-" But before Honeydew could finished his sentence, he was quickly interrupted with the sound of screaming.

**"HELP! SOMEONE! HELP ME!"**

A chill ran through the heroes' as the speaker continued to scream out for help before being abruptly interrupted with the sound of a struggling, then choking. It was Skylord_Lysander.

"SHIT!" Xephos swore as they ran off, "Do you think it's Israphel?!" But neither of them really wanted to answer that question.

They ran as fast as they could, their feet digging into the snow and avoiding the occasional animal and ice patch. When they finally reached Skylord_Lysander, no one could believe what they were seeing. He was lying in the snow, no longer making any sounds, and he was barely moving. Hanging right above him, with their hands wrapped around his neck, was Annahvi.

"Take it back!" she hissed angrily, her eyes shining brightly with hatred, "TAKE IT BACK!"

"Annahvi, what the hell is going on!?" Honeydew asked as they tried to pull the Elf off of Skylord_Lysander, "Let him go!"

"A HELPLESS CHILD?!" she laughed insanely, her grip on his neck tightening, "Could a child do this?! Answer me that, _Lysander_!" The man underneath her looked up at her with terrified eyes as he tried to remove her hands from his neck. But finally, Annahvi was pulled off of Skylord_Lysander and quickly restrained by Honeydew and Xephos. "What...the hell..happened?" the latter said between breaths, as he looked back and forth between the Skylord and Elf.

"I'll explain later." Skylord_Lysander answered between coughs, "For now, we're taking her to the prison cell; it's for the best."

The Space Man and Dwarf looked at each other before looking down to Annahvi. She instantly looked up at with equal content as she tried to pull herself away from their grip. "I'm not going." she spat, as she pulled one of her arms free.

"You almost killed Lysander." Xephos said, not in harsh anger, but concerned fear "What on Earth could've possessed you to do something so dangerous and stupid?"

Annahvi opened her mouth to give a reply, but paused when she realized that there was no logical reason. She looked between Xephos and Honeydew before turning to Skylord_Lysander. He looked at her in disappointment and frustration before looking away. His breath was still at an unsteady rhythm, and there were distinct red marks all over his neck in the shape of hands. Annahvi sighed in frustration as she looked down at grass; she had lost once again.

"I can move on my own, at least." she sighed as she pulled her other arm away from Honeydew's grip. They looked at her hesitantly, but after a few seconds stepped aside and let her and Skylord_Lysander walk off to the prison.

She was led into a small wooden shack with a stone wall and an iron door. Inside was a small, fairly lit prison cell with a single bed and the ground was actually grassy soil, but this wasn't where she went. They left the building through another door and down a very short path to a large room made completely out of stone. The door was unlocked for her and the very first thing Annahvi noticed as that there was absolutely no torches inside. The floor was constructed of cobblestone, there were no windows, and there was no bed for her.

"Annahvi," Skylord_Lysander spoke up, "Please, can't you just give me the book?"

She looked up at him with guilt and regret before stepping inside the cell and sitting down on the dirty floor. "Once Simon and Lewis get the map fragment, you'll let me go and I'll never come back to Skyhold?"

He paused for a moment before replying.

"Hopefully."

She watched as Skylord_Lysander closed the door with a loud clang before walking off. Once his footsteps could no longer be heard, Annahvi sighed in frustration as Isis knelt down in front of her.

_"Annahvi?"_ she asked nervously.

"Well at least I didn't kill him." she laughed sadly as her hands began to shake, but within seconds she was softly crying.

_"Oh, Annahvi..." _Isis whispered as she wrapped her arms around the shaking Elf, _"It's not your fault. Nobody ever means for these things to happen."_

"But Isis..."

_"Hush...Your friends were be here for another day or two. It will give us plenty of time to train you. But first, we'll require the book. Do you have it with you?"_

"N-No..." Annahvi stammered, "It's inside the house."

_"I see...We're going to have to retrieve it."_

"But that book is the reason we're in this mess!"

_"And it will be what gets us out of this mess. Trust me, they'll thank you once you've proven your strength. You'll be a hero."_

Annahvi sat in the middle of the prison cell with her hands over her face, as if it would ease her frustration. Although there was absolutely no light within the room, the confusion and anger was clearly seen. Finally, she sighed in defeat and stood up.

"What do I have to do?"

_"First, we're going to have to get out of this cell."_

The next morning, Xephos stepped out of his temporary shelter to see a bright blue sky. Of course he was still physically and mentally exhausted from last night, so the beautiful morning was the last thing on his mind. He met up with Honeydew at the prison before approaching the stone prison cell and knocking in the cold metal door.

"Annahvi? Are you up? It's Lewis and Simon." Due to the long corridor that began at the prison he couldn't properly see into the room, and there was no lighting - save for the sunlight that came in through the window of the steel door. So she was sleeping, or not avoiding all contact with them. Either option appeared feasible at the moment. "Well...if you're up, we just wanted to know if you needed anything. We'll talk to you later..."

Without another word they returned to the entrance of the Trial of Ice, hoping to complete the trials as soon as possible.

"So...right...No torches permitted in this," Xephos read once again as he entered the elemental area, "Is this because they melt ice?"

"Yeah."

"My God, what is going on with this?" Xephos asked as he looked down the passage and into the main area, taking quick note of the two slimes. And yet the moment he entered the next room he failed to notice the enormous blue slime bouncing around until is bounced right onto him.

"Lewis, careful!" Honeydew warned as the Space Man quickly backed away, "Aw! He's happy to see you!"

"Why is he spazzing the hell out so bad?" Xephos asked as they continued through the area. "Um...was he jumping up and down on my head."

"He was trying...Tryin' to hug you." Honeydew said as he entered the Trial of Ice, completely unaware of the second slime approaching him.

"Look at this slime here! He's delighte- Careful! He's comin' up behind you."

Honeydew backed out to the entrance of the trial, and just as the slime tried to attack the Dwarf, he fire an arrow straight into the slime. The creature fell to the ground with a thud, but then it's body began to slowly stretch until it had become divided into four smaller slimes.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S RAINING SLIMES, LEWIS!" Honeydew panicked as he and Xephos quickly finished off the tiny slimes. "Well that problem is solved, I suppose." he said as he rejoined Honeydew in the Trial of Ice, after knocking the last slime off of the elemental area.

"Oh God," Honeydew sighed as they continued down the icy corridor.

"Is this a maze?" he heard Xephos ask behind him.

"A dark maze...This is really...This is tricky." And just as Honeydew was about to reach the end of the maze, he ran head-long into an ice wall.

"Are we at the end? Is that the end?" Xephos asked as Honeydew backtracked past him.

"It's a dead end." he answered.

"That's the chest there I think, over there isn't it?" the Space Man commented as he examined the chest from the foggy ice wall, "How do we get to that?" But as he asked this question, realization struck Honeydew like a ton of bricks.

"Ah!" he said as he backtracked once more, "Okay, so right..."

"Can we knock through?" Xephos suggested as he remained at the dead end, "What happens if we try and knock through?" Of course, when the Space Man tried this feat it resulted in cold water flooding through the corridor. "Oh. Oh dear, that wasn't a good idea."

While Xephos was dealing with the icy waters, Honeydew had gone back the route he had taken. He paused for a second as he noticed something was strange. He could just barely make out a slight difference in one of the walls beside him. It was actually a set of stairs! Curiously, he began to walk up them. "Am I...Oh! I think I'm above the maze!"

"You're above me!" Xephos noted as he watched his Dwarven friend continue down the newfound path, before following after Honeydew, "Oh God, I'm completely confused. I can't see anything; this is terrible!" But he paused as he noticed the slight difference in the wall as well, "Oh I see - there's an above bit! Okay, let's head up the above bit."

Honeydew paused in confusion as his eyes could not longer make out any stairs going down, but it wasn't long before he found another set of stairs. "Oh!"

"What?" Xephos asked in pure bewilderment as he watched his friend continue climbing practically invisible stairs, "Where does this go?"

"This is so...There are steps that go up!" he explained. "Right?"

"It's a _3D_ maze!"

"Oh no! Of ice?!"

"Yeah, and it's dark."

"What devious bastard devised this?"

Finally, they reached the end of the stairs and the next corridor led right to the exit, yet as Honeydew walked towards the end he walked right into another wall. "So close!" he said yearningly, before noticing another set of stairs. They continued up a winding set of stairs until they were finally greeted with sunlight hitting the ice walls, creating a distinctive shine. "Here we go!" Honeydew said as they exited the maze, "I'm so clever!"

"You are a genius," Xephos admitted as he opened the chest. Inside was eight blocks of snow which formed a perfect square.

"Snow!" they said in unison.

"Okay!" Xephos said as he took a block of snow, "Well that's that. Um...have you got some snow?" As the Space Man stepped outside, he turned to see a small wall of snow, about as tall as himself. Without thinking, he knocked out a small portion of the wall, allowing himself to climb over the wall and around the maze. Honeydew watched as he laughed.

"We could've just done this," Xephos laughed.

"We could've gone round this. DAMMIT!" the Dwarf yelled, "WE SAID WE GOING TO AND WE FORGOT! Oh for goodness sake!"

"Don't worry," Xephos said as they reached the entrance to the elemental area.

"Oh!" Honeydew said, "You can really see the turtle - look! Look at this turtle fella!"

"Alright, where is he?" he asked as he rejoined Honeydew, before noticing the large green reptile in the water. "Oh, down here! Oh yeah - he's adorable! What's going on with his eyes? He's a little bit weird looking, isn't he?"

"Yeah, a little bit strange." Honeydew agreed as they made their way back to the entrance, "He's a little bit derp, isn't he? He's a bit of a derpy turtle."

"Derp Turtle!" Xephos recited the name over and over again with a laugh.

"Lewis!" Honeydew said, interrupting the man from his thoughts, "Lysander's here!"

"Oh," he responded a little bit concerned, "Okay."

"He's come to congratulate us."

"But we haven't done it yet; we've only got two."

"Heroes!" Skylord_Lysander greeted as the two heroes approached him, "Something ill is afoot!"

"Oh. Okay...?"

"That doesn't sound good."

"That does _not_ sound good at all." Xephos said in agreement.

"I have questioned the carnival folk, and they are good people." the Skylord continued, "I do not think Vitali is telling the truth about what happened here."

"Oh no," Honeydew mumbled softly, "You don't think Vitali is a member of the Cult of Israphel?"

"I need your help to find out what happened to the Skylords." Skylord_Lysander instructed, "Nubescu tells me a man arrived here last night. And he was imprisoned by Vitali. He is held in a secret cell beneath the Skyhold!"

"Good lord!"

"Okay!" Honeydew said excitedly, "We need to get him and rescue him and save him?"

"I will distract Vitali," Skylord_Lysander corrected, "You must speak to Nubescu!"

"Please anything! Anything but that! I DON'T WANNA SPEAK TO NUBESCU! Please! I"ll fight a dragon, I'll do anything! Please, no!"

Find out what this man knows!" he continued, disregarding the begging Dwarf.

"Not Nubescu! I beg you!" Honeydew continued, but the decision was final. However, even after they reached the Skyhold, Skylord_Lysander turned to them with a grim face.

"There's something else?" Xephos asked nervously. He looked up at them before looking left and right.

"Annahvi has escaped."

"What?!" Xephos screamed, "What do you mean she's escaped?!"

"I went to check on her this morning, but when I went inside I saw that the lock was clearly tampered with. She must have snuck out when everyone was asleep. I cannot say where she has run off to. Perhaps she has already left the Skyhold, or maybe some thing has happened to her?"

"Well we've got to find her!"

"You two need to speak to Nubescu and finish the trials. I will search for Annahvi."

"Are you bloody mad?" Honeydew asked, "Yesterday she almost killed you, and now you want to go looking for her?"

"She has confided with me about secrets you two do not know about. It will be easier for me to talk to her if and when I find her."

The two heroes looked at him nervously, but he only responded with a hopeful smile, "Trust me, I'm a Skylord."

And without another word, Skylord_Lysander had left them.

"Do you think Annahvi is alright?" Xephos questioned.

"Well if she's having a 'woman problem', I'll let you take care of it."


	33. Chapter 29 - Part 1

**A/N: Okay, this one is going to be a two-part chapter, I promise this time. Um...If it helps, I recommend playing some erie music in the background. If you have any problems with this chapter, feel free to leave a review, and I'll try and improve this.**

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><p>"...Annahvi? Wake up...Wake up..."<p>

Isis' voice echoed softly through her ears, crisp and, but she still remained laying on the floor, her eyes were heavy and her mind was foggy. A pair of cold hands gently shook her back and forth. Finally, her eyes slowly opened to a strange blurry world. As her vision slowly began to clear, she turned to see Isis starring down at her in concern, despite the obvious lack of a mouth.

"Isis...?" she asked, finding her throat surprisingly dry, "Wha...What happened?"

"You blacked out," Isis explained as she helped Annahvi sit up properly, "Your connection to the Spirit Plane is fading, so you need to be very careful. You could end up badly injuring yourself or anyone who is around."

"How long was I out for?" The Elf asked as she looked about in confusion. There were no clouds, no trees, no light, just pure black all around them; even the ground - which was covered with a thin blanket of fog - was a strange black material, as hard as obsidian.

"About fifteen minutes, maybe less. I can't say I know for sure where we are; I don't want to risk pulling you back into the physical world. I will say this, the book is very close by; I can feel its presence."

Annahvi sighed in frustration as she began to stand up, but she only lasted a few seconds before a sharp pain shot up her body and into her brain. Her legs gave out instantly as she fell to the ground.

"Careful," Isis scolded as she quickly caught her, "You're physically and mentally drained from whatever happened to you previously. You need to rest, and _then_ we'll figure out how to get you out of this."

"Fine..." Annahvi sighed softly as she finally found a comfortable position on the floor, "So what are we supposed to do now?"

"Well we don't have the book," Isis began, "But we can still train some. We certainly have enough time."

The Elf rolled her eyes in irritation with a groan before sitting upright, facing Isis; she knew the procedure fairly well by now. The moment that Annahvi closed her eyes, all of her other senses heightened tenfold. She could feel the pushes and pulls of the energy the was constantly moving around them. Unfortunately, feeling the energies was the only easy part. Manipulation, creation, and destruction - _that_ was where the real training began. It was an intricate pattern that had to be weaved together with the utmost tenacity. She joined, shaped, divided, it was as if the world itself was just a set of fluid building blocks.

"Are you feeling any better?" Isis asked as she carefully aided Annahvi when need be.

"I...I guess..." the Elf answered softly.

_"...ahvi.."_

"What...?" she carefully and slowly stopped all manipulation and listened softly. Isis tilted her head in confusion. "What is it?"

"I...I don't know. I thought...I thought I heard something..."

_"...Annahvi..." _this time, the voice was a clear sound. Distorted, yes, but it was obvious that someone was calling her name. She focused in a mix of confusion and curiosity as the voice continued calling out to her. The voice was becoming more and more distinctive, but even then she had no idea who was repeating her name. Their voice grew louder and louder, until she couldn't even make out any words - just sound.

Suddenly she winced in pain. The side of her face began to slowly sting until it was a slight burn. Isis looked at her in a mix of confusion and shock as she saw a bright red mark appearing on Annahvi's cheek. But before either of them could speak, the Elf widened her eyes and screamed in pain.

She looked down at her hands, which were now terribly shaking, and was horrified with what she saw. Even if she covered her hand, it did nothing to stop the pain that shot from her fingers. Isis watched as blood beginning to run down her hand. The white hot agony carried on for what felt like an eternity, and all while Annahvi was screaming as loud as she could. She screamed and she screamed and she couldn't stop screaming until finally the pain began to subside in her hand. Her shadow only watched in fear and sadness as she curled up into a ball, sobbing softly as she tried to hide her shaking, bleeding hand.

"A-Annahvi..." the shadow carefully approached her friend, but she only flinched away the moment Isis placed a hand on her.

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><p>"Right, so what did he say?" Xephos asked, "He's going to distract Vitali; we need to find...Nubescu at the carnival."<p>

"Find Nubescu and talk to her." Honeydew clarified as they walked off towards the center of Skyhold.

"Where's the carnival?"

"It'll be where the ship is, won't it? Can you see the carnival ship?"

"Uh, I can't." Xephos answered as he looked all around as they stood in the middle of the Skyhold. "Oh!" Honeydew said, already walking off, "It's over here!"

"Oh there it is, over that way. Okay, let's go that way." However, as they got closer to the floating airship, Honeydew paused abruptly as he saw Skylord_Lysander walk up to one of the houses. "Oh! There's Lysander. Let's hang back a little bit."

"He's distracting Vitali, I think." Xephos noted, before his attention was drawn to a rather odd looking tree which held pieces of bright red..._something_. "What's going on with this tree? It's got like...block of wool in it..."

"Oh I'm glad you're - you're prioritizing this and looking at the important stuff." the Dwarf said sarcastically. As Xephos neared the tree, then then noticed a simple sign which hung on the trunk.

_Do not take the apples_

"Oh it's an apple tree!" he realized, looking into a nearby chest which was storing a few apples. It's got apples in it."

He left the strange tree with a bit of a chuckle and rejoined Honeydew as they entered the Carnivale del Banjo.

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><p>The pain was beginning to subside in Annahvi's fingers, but they were beginning to feel cold and numb. By now her eyes were red and puffy, and her throat was sore from screaming and crying. She tried to stand back up, but the moment she placed too much pressure on her hand she crumpled to the ground.<p>

"Shit..." she cursed through gritted teeth as she slowly managed to sit upright. "What...what the fucking hell was that?"

"Your mind may be on the Spirit Plane," Isis explained reluctantly, "But your body is still in the physical world. You can still hear, feel, and possibly see things that are happening to your body."

"What...? Why...W-Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"I didn't think anyone you knew would know about the book and the Spirit Plane."

Annahvi only sighed in frustration as she ran her good hand through her tangled hair. There had to be a way out of the Spirit Plan, there just _had_ to. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on escaping. But questions constantly distracted her from thinking straight. Where were Xephos and Honeydew? And what about Skylord_Lysander? Were they safe? Would she ever escape? Annahvi finally screamed in frustration as thousands of questions filled her mind, none she knew the answers to.

Once she had finally calmed down, she turned to Isis with a mix of embarrassment and anger. It wasn't until after she rejoined her shadow on the ground that the latter of the two spoke up.

"It's not your fault..." she sighed, "I told you, people wouldn't understand the potential of this book, the potential that _you_ know hold. When I was in possession of the book, I had face persecution as well. I was left all alone; people were afraid of me. The path for the greater good was never the easiest one."

Annahvi nodded her head in understanding as the two of them tried heir best to continue training. If she had left the book in the Archives, then none of this would happen. Maybe if she had told her friends sooner, they would've understand. Maybe...

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><p>"Um...Okay. So, let's - let's be diplomatic." Honeydew reminded nervously as he glanced between his friend, and Madame_Nubescu, "What should we say? She's a delicate lady, lady-woman, and we don't want to upset her or make any false accusations."<p>

Xephos nodded his head and bearing that in mind he turned to the Voodoo Madame. "Why have you got Um_"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GONG ON YOU CRAZY BROAD?!"

"Okay, well that's _fine_!"

"Um...maybe you should take over from here, Lewis." the Dwarf laughed nervously as Madame_Nubescu glanced at him in the utmost confusion.

"Dwarf, what be da matter?" Madame_Nubescu asked before turning to Xephos, "He be mad, mon?"

"Your diary upstairs said you killed the Skylords, and you have Um_Bongo in a cadge!"

"I did?" she asked, before realization struck her, "Oh no, mon! I didn't! What diary?"

"The one upstairs that we saw on the wall. But, well, it was like a sign on the wall, and it wasn't really written in a very..."

"Is this just a ploy to distract us?" Honeydew asked as his friend slowly trailed off.

"Nubescu's been good to us before," Xephos added, "But then again, right, Skylord_Baako _did_, like, explode, didn't he? So..."

"Yeah, that was horrible- Oh! Why would you remind me of that?"

"And dat little cadge mon," Madame_Nubescu added, "He was put dare by Vitali. And I dun have a diary, mon!"

"Okay, some someone's tryin' to frame Nubescu."

"This is all very fishy...I think we ought to get Um_Bongo out and ask him these questions instead."

"Been trying to get him out, mon...Can't do it mon."

"Alright," Xephos said as they neared the edge of the platform, across from Um_Bongo, "Let's go and get him out. Um...What is the best way to approach this cadge in the dark with Um_Bongo in it?"

"Um...carefully, Lewis, carefully." Honeydew answered as he began to precariously build a wooden bridge over to the suspended cadge.

* * *

><p>"Right, that's it!" Annahvi groaned as she stood up, her legs shaking slightly, "I'm getting out of here."<p>

"How are you going to do that?" Isis asked, almost sarcastically, "I'm not going to take you back and even if you get back to the physical world, you don't know where we are or what's going to happen."

"I don't care!" the Elf snapped, "I'm not just going to sit around, and _wait_ for someone to rescue us, because I don't _need _rescuing! I'm not afraid of what's outside, so don't try and stop me!"

"Annahvi."

"I told you already," she snapped, turning back to Isis, "Don't try and stop me!"

She was surprised to see that it wasn't Isis who spoke to her, she was more surprised to see that Isis actually have a look of shock, but she was even more surprised when she realized the voice was actually behind her. However, what surprised her the most was the person who spoke to her.

He looked at her with an emotionless expression. Mouth in a thin line, eyes looking up at her with a lackluster shine, no sign of anger, sadness, happiness, or love.

"Lysander...?"

"Annahvi-" Isis began, but the Elf paid no attention to her friend. "Lysander, what are you doing here? _How _did you get here?"

"We came here to find you."

"We?" Annahvi tilted her head to the side in confusion, but it was only then that she noticed Xephos and Honeydew beside him. She couldn't stop herself as a huge smile began to form on her face.

"But you said you didn't need us." Xephos said, his voice equally void of any emotion, "You don't need us to rescue you."

"No, no!" Annahvi corrected, "I said I didn't need _rescuing_! You're my friends, of course I need you!"

"No, you are not our friend, and we are not yours. You lied to us, you were hiding secrets about the book."

"I-I would've told you sooner! But I...I didn't want you guys to be mad at me."

"You didn't trust us then?" Honeydew asked.

"No! That's not true at all!" she yelled anxiously, a horrible fear beginning to grow inside. "We gave you our trust, and yet you risked our safety for your own wants." She tried to reach out and grab Skylord_Lysander by the arm, but just as she did so they began to slowly back away. _"Goodbye, Annahvi."_

"Please!" she screamed out, "I'm sorry! I never wanted any of this to happen!"

She watched in sadness and fear as they began to walk away. Annahvi tried to run after them, but the moment she began to run a sharp pain pierced through her mind and she fell to her hands and knees. "Please!" she yelled out tears beginning to run down her face, "Please come back! Please don't go..." As they slowly disappeared into the darkness, Xephos glanced back at her one last time. "No..." she began, before she finally screamed out.

"I'M SORRY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

She continued to scream after them, but it was only when Isis placed a hand on the Elf's shoulder that she stopped and looked up to her shadow, tears still rolling down her face. "Isis...?"

"They're not real, Annahvi."

"What?"

"None of them could have been able to contact you, let alone all three of them. They're not really there."

Annahvi turned back to where her three friends were originally standing, but there was no sign that any of them were even standing there to start. She didn't know whether she should laugh or cry.

* * *

><p>"I was put in dere by man with pale skin!" the Tiki Man explained, instantly causing a sense of dread to wash over both heroes.<p>

"What man?"

"Him be call Vitilly."

"What did you do?" Xephos continued, although by now his Dwarven friend was completely baffled.

"I saw him by apple tree." Um_Bongo continued as they made their way back to the ladder to the carnival. "He was putting some bones in the ground. They look fresh."

"Oh..." Xephos said, a sudden chill washing over them. Instantly, their minds went straight to Annahvi. Had Skylord_Vitali found her? Was she still alive? What happened to her? "Right."

"Take me with you!"

"No look!" he said with a laugh, "Stay here for now."

"I am good jump!" the man replied, ignoring Xephos. He tried to go and jump over to the next platform, only to miss and fall right between them and into the waters below. "OH NO! UM_BONGO! OH GOD!"

"What happened?!" Xephos asked in completely confusion as the heroes and Madame_Nubescu, "Oh God, is he..."

"He wanted to show how good a jumper he was but..."

"...And then he fell off"

"But he fell off."

"Oh God," Xephos said with a groan, "Well I'm sure that's not the last we've seen of Um_Bongo. Because...Oh for goodness sake! Oh flippin' heck..."

"Right..." he said as they climbed up the ladder and out of Madame_Nubescu's tent, so where's that apple tree? Um...That's what we need to investigate."

After some faffing about with Strongman_Bruno in the rest of Carnivale del Banjo, the two heroes left the carnival and were quick to rejoin Skylord_Lysander, right outside Skylord_Vitali's house just as it was midday.

"Oh right! Okay, this is Vitali's house..." Xephos said as he opened the door and took a quick glance inside, "But I guess there's not...I think it's to do with the apple tree, isn't it?" As the Space Man said this, he was quick to make his way towards the strange apple tree. "Oh!" he heard Honeydew say, "We need to dig under the apple tree!"

Xephos began to dig out the ground underneath the apple tree, but just as he began, he stopped momentarily. "Son of a bitch!" he swore, "This is gonna be like the we dug around the watch tower for like twenty minutes..."

"HERE!" Honeydew interrupted, as he continued to dig. "There's...Is that a trail of blood?"

"Um, Vitali's house is here..." Skylord_Lysander said in confusion, as he made his way towards the heroes.

"Lysander," Xephos said, "We got a clue from Um_Bongo."

"Oh?"

Xephos neared the small hole under the tree, and through the darkness he could just vaguely see a path of dried blood. Beside that was Skylord_Vitali's title; judging form the distance, he was probably farther away. "Oh God, he's down there as well!" As the three men looked at the blood, they soon realized that night began to arise. "I guess we can't sleep before we go in there..." Xephos said with a nervous laugh.

"Come, Lysander!" Honeydew urged, "We must confront the enemy!"

The Dwarf reluctantly lead his friend through a narrow corridor, and amongst the floor was a somewhat consistent trail of blood. "We are we going?" Xephos asked as they rounded the corner, "I didn't even know there was, like, a...oh."

"What the hell...?"

"Skylord_Vimes," Xephos read, "'I stuck a meat hook in his back'..."

"Oh God!" Honeydew said as he opened the chest underneath the sign, his stomach lurched forward, "It's his remains."

"'I snapped his spine with a mighty crack'. Skylord_Horus...'At morning light our swords did clash', Skylord_James, 'Nothing left but bones and ash. I popped his eyes and drank the goo. I took his blade and ran him through'."

Skylord_Lysander could only look in horror.

"No...It can't be."

"Oh my God," Xephos said, struggling to find the right words, "Is these...Are these all full of...Who's that? Is that another Skylord?"

Honeydew placed down a torch beside a fourth chest, but this time there wasn't a sign indicating any name. Suddenly a feeling dread came over the three. Who was in that chest? Sylord_Baako? Annahvi? Skylord_Amber, perhaps? How much had they suffered? Reluctantly, Skylord_Lysander opened the chest, and was horrified to see a mix of ashes, bones, dried skin. The disgusting smell of rotted remains filled the air, and the Skylord had to do his best to contain his horror. The bones and skin were clearly too old to have been of recent events. They probably as young as two weeks; it wasn't Annahvi. There was a mix of both relief and dread as Skylord_Lysander closed the chest.

"There's a blood trail leading to this hatch." the Space Man pointed out as he motioned to a metal door at Honeydew's feet. They opened the hatch with little effort, but it did nothing to ease the anxiety the three men felt.

When Xephos reached the next room, he was surprised to see that it was completely dark. "Oh God, what is this?" He fumbled blindly in the darkness before taking out a torch and placing it on the nearby wall. However, he paused in a mix of horror and realization when he saw a wooden sign beside the torch. And below the sign and torch was the cover to as casket.

"It says 'You should never wake a sleeping vampire'."

"Oh no! He's a vampire?!" Honeydew asked, more shocked than scared. Without answering the Dwarf, Xephos opened the casket.

"Vitali! You friend!" Skylord_Lysander yelled, as the vampire awoke, causing all three men to quickly back away from the enemy with a iron sword in his hand.

"So..." he said, in a voice no more ominous than they remembered, "I trust you know the truth."

"We have a good idea!" Xephos said, in an attempt to sound witty.

"Yes, Vitali," Skylord_Lysander answered, "I have one questions before I end your...undeath. Why?"

"Power, Lysander, power. The dark lord knows the true power of the Skyhold and he offered me a grand prize to deliver it."

"No prize is worth the lives of your friends and family!"

"How do we kill him, Simon?" Xephos asked nervously.

"We shall see." Vitali said as he stepped out of the casket, "I think you've heard enough."

"Lewis, quick." Honeydew said as he took a sharpened stake in his hand, "Take this, take this!" He tossed his friend a similar piece of wood.

"You shall die here... Alone."

"Not alone!" Skylord_Lysander answered, "I have the heroes by my side!"

"Then the master will want them dead too!"

With that, Skylord_Vitali charged at the Dwarf, his sharp fangs shining brightly. Honeydew threw a quick punch at the vampire, but he was able to quickly dodge the blows. He was, however, unable to avoid the quick punch Xephos threw. Skylord_Vitali hissed in anger as he jumped back, before charging at the Space Man. Xephos threw another punch which hit him right the gut before raising the stake in his hand. Skylord_Lysander swung his iron sword at Skylord_Vitali, buying the Space Man enough time to take the vampire by surprise. He plunged the stake into Skylord_Vitali, through his chest, and right into his beating heart.

The vampire screamed in agony blood poured from his mouth. He looked up at the heroes with absolute detest as he coughed up more and more blood. The moment he collapsed to the ground, Xephos and Honeydew signed in relief.

"Wow..." Xephos sighed as he examined the blood, along with a pair of goggles, a slip of paper, and a vinyl record, all were stained with blood.

"It is done..." Skylord_Lysander sighed, "But what did me mean about the Skyhold's true power...And what is the text on this record? He examined the scrip closely, but one he realized what it read, he snapped his head up and headed for the ladder. "I've seen it before...We need to get into the control room!"

It was only when they heard a disgusting cough that the three men turned their attention to the body on the ground. Skylord_Vitali looked up at the three with a malicious grin.

"The average man...can last a week...without food..." he said, his breath becoming laborious and uneven, "...only three days...without water..."

It was just the ravings of a pathetic lunatic, Skylord_Lysander thought to himself as he began to climb up the ladder.

"But an Elf..."

He froze.


	34. Chapter 29 - Part 2

**A/N: So this is Part 2 of Chapter 29, and Chapter 30 is probably going to be a two-part chapter as well, just a quick warning. I wanted to build more of a relationship between Annahvi and all of the other characters, not just possible love interests, so enjoy the awkward fluff.**

* * *

><p>"...Such a strange creature...Annahvi...that's her name...right?" Skylord_Vitali talked as calmly as if he was discussing the weather, but his blood-covered face was twisted into a Cheshire smile. "...She'll last...well over a month...And...her blood..."<p>

Before the man could say another word, Skylord_Lysander grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What have you done with her?" he spat, trying to hide the sense of anxiety in his voice. But he wasn't fooling anyone; not Xephos, not Honeydew, not even himself, and _certainly_ not Skylord_Vitali.

"Why do you...care...? She's just...a help...helpless c-child!"

Skylord_Lysander couldn't even find any words to describe the anger he felt. He looked down at the vampire, who was laughing insanely as he coughed up more and more blood. He didn't even question how Skylord_Vitali knew about their fight,. He just yelled angrily as he punched the man right in his already bloody face.

"Stop it, Lysander." Honeydew said, "He's not going to say anything."

The Skylord looked back to the heroes before looking back down at the vampire. With a frustrated sigh, he threw Skylord_Vitali to the ground. He still had that disgusting smirk on his face when he finally died. His body began to slowly disappear, but the blood amongst the walls and floor still remained.

While the three of them stood there in complete silence, Honeydew glanced around and instantly his attention was drawn to something odd on the other side of the room. It didn't move on it's own, but as the Dwarf shifted his body one way or the other, it appeared to follow his gaze. It was a tiny black square, and he could just faintly see a few white letters that spelled out a name.

"Annahvi?" he read, causing Xephos and Skylord_Lysander to turn to him in confusion. "I...I think I see Annahvi's nameplate." he walked over to the other side of the room, by the bookcases, and it was then that his tone changed instantly, "Yeah! Yeah, she's behind this wall, or something." The moment he said this, the three of them began to push aside the bookcases as quickly as possible. Bearing that in mind, several books toppled onto the ground, and it was only then that Skylord_Lysander noticed a rather distinct leather-book as it tumbled to the floor, just barely missing the pool of blood.

Behind the bookcase was a simple iron door with a lever on one side of the wall, and from the other side of the door they could now see Annahvi's title clearly. However, she wasn't making a single sound. "Annahvi," Xephos called out as he followed behind Skylord_Lysander, "It's us, Lewis and Simon! We're here to save you!"

What the three of them saw, none of them could properly explain.

Beyond the iron door was a simple stone corridor, which only lasted about a meter or so, which lead to a very small room. Sitting, partially slouched against the wall, was Annahvi. However, that was only part of what happened. Her face was horribly bruised and bloody, there were several cuts all over her body, and dried blood from her mouth and nose. And yet she still sat there, completely calm.

"Annahvi?" Xephos asked nervously, "Can you hear us?" And yet she said nothing.

Was she under some sort of trance? Did Vitali do this? Was she just sleep? They couldn't even be sure that she was _breathing_. Perhaps Vitali was lying. Perhaps they had come too late. It was only after Xephos softly shook Annahvi by the shoulder that she slowly opened her eyes. Her voice was tired and dry, and she looked up at them, still half-asleep.

"...What...?" she mumbled softly.

"Don't worry, you're going to be just fine." He extended his hand down to take her.

She looked at Xephos' hand as if it were a foreign object, and then she looked up at him. Her eyes were tired and bloodshot, and her breath was uneven. But even though all of this, she smiled. It wasn't one of happiness, nor was it one of barely concealed rage. It was a deranged, defeated smile. She looked down at the stone beneath her as her she chucked softly to herself. Just like her smile, her laugh was broken and twisted. The three men looked at each other in complete confusion as Annahvi laughed to herself, not making any attempt to stand up or move at all. Honeydew grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her to her feet, "C'mon, Annahvi. We need to get you help." And yet she remained in place. Skylord_Lysander knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked in right in the eye, completely unfazed. "Annahvi, snap out of it!" he shouted, "We're here to save you!"

By now she was a hysterical mess. Her laugher had gone from a weak chuckle to insane laugher. Her eyes were open wide and wild, as Skylord_Lysander shook her back and forth. Finally, her laugher quickly died down into incoherent nonsense as she struggled to stay conscious, before finally passing out. Carefully, Skylord_Lysander hoisted her up over his shoulder and followed behind Xephos and Honeydew as they anxiously left Skylord_Vitali's resting chambers. The moment they stepped out of the cave and back into the open world, Skylord_Lysander turned to the two heroes.

"Find Nubescu and meet me at the Hospital." he instructed, "I'll do my best to help her."

Without any argument, Xephos and Honeydew ran off into the darkness and towards the carnival, while Skylord_Lysander headed straight for the Hospital. He quickly placed Annahvi down on one of the nearby beds, but it was only then that he realized how badly injured she was. Her skin had become a erie pale, blood had managed to seep through her clothes, but it was when he lowered her arms, that he noticed that her left hand was missing three of her fingernails. He felt his stomach tighten as he looked at her, battered, bloody, and broken. It was only when Xephos and Honeydew brought in Madame_Nubescu that a sense of relief came over the three of them. "Jah three be tellin' me da Elf be hurt?" she asked.

"It's a bit of a long story," the latter said, "Can you just please help her?"

The Voodoo Madame looked down at Annahvi with an unreadable expression before turning back to the three, "Find me two flowers, five dirt, an apple, a wooden bowl, an' an egg, mon. I'll see what I can do."

"Oh not this again..."

While the two heroes wandered off into the Skyhold, Skylord_Lysander turned back to Annahvi. Her breathing had calmed down some, but she still looked so terribly tired. Despite the reassurance Madame_Nubescu provided, there was till a terrible sense of dread in Skylord_Lysander. If Madame_Nubescu failed, Annahvi would die feeling nothing but pain and sadness. The last thing Skylord_Lysander said to her was, 'Hopefully.'

Hopefully she would swallow her pride and give Skylord_Lysander the book before she caused anyone any more harm. Hopefully Xephos and Honeydew would receive the map fragment as soon as possible, and they would be on their way. Hopefully she would leave Skyhold, and never return; they would never cross paths ever again.

Xephos and Honeydew soon returned with everything Madame_Nubescu required, along with a few bandages and pieces of raw pork. Unlike Fumblemore's potion, this one looked a little bit more appealing to drink, as appealing as a potion with dirt could be anyway. It smelled faintly of pine needles and fresh cut grass, and despite the few floating pieces of dirt in it, it seemed fairly safe to drink. As crushed up petals and apples were placed into the bowl of milk, Xephos and Honeydew turned to Annahvi, who was still unconscious.

"When da Elf comes 'round," Madame_Nubescu said, "Jah give her dat drink, mon. She'll be better in no time."

"Thank you so much, Nubescu." Xephos said before turning to Honeydew and Skylord_Lysander, "Well, it's getting pretty late, is it? I suppose we should rest up and prepare for tomorrow, Simon, pal?"

"You must finish the final challenge," Skylord_Lysander instructed, "Meet me on the middle spire when you are done!"

"Right." The two men spared one last glance at Annahvi, before exiting the Hospital. "I be needing ta help Mr_Banjo an Bruno wid packin' up da carnivale," Madame_Nubescu said as she walked out the door, "Jah keep an eye on dat Elf. She be finding trouble wherever she goes." And with that half-ominous half-joking warning, Madame_Nubescu left the Hospital, leaving only Skylord_Lysander. He looked out the nearby window, and wasn't too surprised to see that the moon was just beginning to rise in the sky. He sighed and sat himself in the chair placed next to Annahvi's bed. Hopefully she would wake up soon.

* * *

><p>Annahvi stirred with a lingering weariness. Her head was throbbing, her throat was dry, and her clothes and skin were caked in dirt and dried blood. But when she finally focused her vision, she was surprised to see that she wasn't back with Isis on the Spirit Plane; she wasn't even in the prison again. She was on a moderately comfortable bed in a well lit room, in contrast to the pitch black night sky.<p>

"Did I...die?" she asked, her throat terrible sore, "Is this heaven..."

She tried to swing her leg over and get off the bed, but her muscles groaned in protest. Annahvi winced in pain with a slight hiss before propping herself up against the headboard.

"Annahvi...?"

The Elf looked up from her sheets and was surprised to see Skylord_Lysander sitting in a chair beside the bed. Judging from his expression, Annahvi could only assume he was just as shocked. She tried to get up out of bed once again, but he quickly placed a hand on her and lightly pushed her back against the wall. "Lysander...what happened?" she asked as he got up from his seat, "Where are the others? Where are we?"

"You're in the hospital, and Xephos and Honeydew are probably still sleeping," Skylord_Lysander answered as he grabbed the wooden bowl resting on the furnace, "As for what happened...I was hoping you could tell me." She looked down at the bowl full of milk and flower petals suspiciously before looking up at Skylord_Lysander.

"It has dirt in it, doesn't it?" she asked grimly.

"Yes, but you need to drink it."

With a sense of dread, she took the bowl in her hands and began to drink down the mixture. It was a disgustingly bittersweet tang and there was a slightly slimy texture, but at least that made it easier to swallow. Despite the crushed dirt and dried flower petals, Annahvi practically cried when she was done. Noticing this, Skylord_Lysander quickly took the bowl from her shaking hands and handed her a glass of water.

"Annahvi, what's wrong?" he asked nervously, "Is something wrong with it? I can go get Nubescu."

"It...It's not that..." she stammered, her stomach tightening, "I just..I'm so sorry..."

_"I do believe you were sent into the prison cell." Skylord_Vitali said, his tone just as harsh as ever, "I could report you to Skylord_Lysander any second now."_

_"Please, I never meant to hurt anyone! I...I'm sorry!" Annahvi looked up, clutching the book in her hands. Skylord_Vitali looked down at the Elf as she was practically on her knees, "I suppose I could keep this secret..." he said, "But...you need to do something for me, in return."_

_"O-Of course!" she replied. Suddenly his smile became even more twisted. He roughly yanked her by the arm and dragged her to a nearby tree and revealed a small tunnel in the ground. With a bit of hesitance, she followed him through the tunnel. It was only when she noticed the wafting stench of blood, that she realized how grave a mistake she had made. He pulled her past a small room filled with bloodstained chests, and into a small chamber below. Despite what Annahvi say, she was too terrified to make any attempt to fight or run away. She glanced back at Skylord_Vitali as he slowly wrapped his hand around her neck. "Oh don't worry," he hissed, "It won't hurt...much."_

_Fear took hold and Annahvi pulled his hand away from her neck and pushed him back. She scrambled up the ladder, slammed the hatch shut with a clang, and raced to the exit as quick as possible. She looked up towards the sky and began to claw her way out; the sun was just rising, and night was quickly fleeing. Annahvi sunk her nails into the grass and pulled herself out. But just as she got to her knees, a set of unnatural claws sunk into her leg and wrenched her back into the tunnel. She grabbed her leg in pain and looked up at the monster above._

_"I recommend you stay quiet." Skylord_Vitali hissed, "You and your friends should have never come here. If you had fled while you still had the chance, you would be alive to see them."_

"I...I should've known," she said, her voice wavering as she rubbed away the beginning of tears, "If I h-hadn't been so...so stupid, so scared..."

"You shouldn't blame yourself too much." Skylord_Lysander said, "None of us could determine Vitali's true intentions." She looked up to see him smiling in a mix of kindness and empathy, but before she could say anything, he got up from his seat and headed for the door.

"Lysander?" she began, a hint of fear beginning to grow deep inside, "W-Where are you going?"

"I need to do a quick patrol of the Skyhold," he explained, "If I see Xephos or Honeydew, I'll tell them that you are awake." He smiled at her again, but it did little to ease her anxiety. With Skylord_Lysander gone, she would be all alone again. All alone against who-knows-what, and Annahvi was certainly in no position to fight. What if something or some_one _came to hurt her? It was common sense - pick of the weakest ones first, right? She would be stuck on the Spirit Plane again, left all alone save for Isis and her mania.

"Wait!"

Without thinking, Annahvi threw the sheets off of her and jumped out of bed, her hand reaching out to grab Skylord_Lysander. But the moment her feet were on the ground a jolt of pain ran up her leg and she hissed in pain. Her leg gave out under her own weight, but the Elf quickly grabbed the nearby chair and steadied herself. "Annahvi what are you doing?" Skylord_Lysander asked, "You need to rest more!" He quickly took her hands and sat her back down on the hospital bed.

He looked down at her in a mix of frustration and pity, Skylord_Lysander had never seen Annahvi in such a state. She wasn't just being stubborn; she was trying to act strong, despite the obvious fear and sadness she felt. Is this what Annahvi thought _true_ strength was: withstanding endless pain? The Skylord sighed before joining the Elf on the hospital bed. "Annahvi, what's wrong? Just swallow your pride and tell me."

She winced at the tone in his words before looking down at her blood-covered hands. She hung her head and her hair was covering her embarrassed expression, but in a soft, low voice she mumbled, "...I don't want to be alone." Despite how quietly Annahvi had spoken, Skylord_Lysander heard every perfectly clear.

"How about a deal?" he began, turning her face so she was looking right at him, "While you're still here at Skyhold, I _promise_ I'll never leave your side. All you have to do take a shower tomorrow morning and don't push yourself too hard. Can you do that for me?" She looked at him in a mix of confusion and shock, as if he had just spoken to her in a completely different language, but after a second or two she smiled weakly and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I think I can handle that."


	35. Chapter 30 - Part 1

**A/N: If you are reading this, then I'd just like to inform you that you are reading an updated version of Chapter 30 - Part 1. Chapter 30 was originally going to be a 3-Part chapter, but there wasn't enough to divide nicely into three parts. So instead I've divided one enormous chapter into two slightly less enormous parts. Please enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Why was waking up in the Spirit Plane such an uncomfortable experience? That's all Annahvi could wonder as she grumbled due to a mix of confusion and incredibly stiff muscles. Her mind was still in a semi-conscience haze when she stood up and the sudden feeling of lightheadedness as the blood from her brain quickly fled to other parts of her body. She instantly fell back onto what felt like grass.<p>

"Annahvi?" someone asked.

"Huh?" she mumbled, trying to force her headache away. She opened her eyes and, after a moment of focusing her gaze, realized that Isis was sitting beside her on a very hilly landscape, a nervous look evident in her eyes.. "Isis? What's wrong?"

The shadow looked away with a guilt-filled expression as she fidgeted slightly, but before Annahvi could ask again Isis leapt forward and tackled the Elf, repeating one sentence over and over again: "I'm sorry!"

"What?" Annahvi winced as she had to use her bad hand to support the two of them.

"I didn't mean for you to get hurt!" her friend cried, tears beginning to stream down her face, "...I-I didn't think you'd get in any trouble, and...and when I saw you in the hospital bed..." At that point, she had been reduced to a mess of incoherent sobs and cries. Annahvi could only stay in place, feeling a mix of confusion, guilt, and shock.

She had seen Isis with a display of emotions; frustration, regret, happiness, confusion, but she'd never seen her in complete sadness. Up until now, the Elf wasn't even aware that her friend was capable of crying, but the tears rolling down Isis' face was proof enough. Annahvi carefully pushed Isis off of her.

"I'd like to wake up now."

Isis winced at the bluntness of her voice, but she complied.

When Annahvi opened her eyes again, she was back in her hospital bed. She sighed in relief as she wrapped the sheets around herself. The stillness in the air was an mix of unsettling silence and comforting peace. She looked over to the hospital bed beside her and saw Skylord_Lysander, still fast asleep. But even with the beginning of a bright new day, Annahvi remained curled up in her sheets; she was too afraid to leave the comfort of her bed. She turned in fear when she heard the sound of someone groaning, but quickly calmed her nerves when she realized it was only Skylord_Lysander waking up.

"Did you just wake up?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

While Skylord_Lysander kept an eye on the furnace, he looked up in a mix of the concern and pity. In the reflection he could see Annahvi. She hadn't said much since they woke up; just 'Yes' or 'No' and occasional mumble. Skylord_Lysander handed her a plate of food, before sitting down on the other hospital bed with his own breakfast.

Annahvi looked down at her food with a slight queasiness: a slice of cooked pork, an apple, and a loaf of bread. The smell of meat caused her stomach to heave and the apple reminded her of Vitali; the bread was the only food she could bear to eat.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Xephos and Honeydew walked across Skyhold, hopping to find the last trial. "So where was the final...um..."<p>

"Countdown?" Honeydew suggested, but Xephos paid no attention to his joke.

"The final one - no. The final challenge, do you remember? I think _this_ was the first one," Xephos said as he stopped in front of one of the entrances to Skyhold, but paused momentarily as he noticed a familiar green monster wading in the nearby waters.

"Oh God, there's a Creeper over there." and with that, the Space Man instantly turned around and began walking in the opposite direction, "He's alright. Just don't- don't worry about him; it's fine. Uh...Is it this way? Let's try it."

"Is that ice?" Honeydew asked with absolutely no correlation to the current situation at hand, before looking up at the explosive monster in the distance, "It's...maybe it's one of Mr. Astley's relatives."

"Maybe he's gone one of these houses around here," Xephos suggested, "They're mysterious deserted...Well it's not that mysterious; now we've seen all those dead skeletons."

"Well no," Honeydew agreed as they stopped in front of another path, "Everyone was eaten by the vampire man."

"I think it's this one," his friend suggested, which caused the Dwarf to look up in curiosity and instantly he realized this was the third and final trial. "There's a spider web down here..."

"Is this earth?" Honeydew suggested as they entered the chamber before the trial, "I'm guessing it's earth; it looks earthy."

"The Trial of Life (and Death)," Xephos read aloud, quickly correcting his Dwarven friend, before he turned to another sign which hung above a large chest, "Create Life to preserve your own. Oh good..." He opened the chest below the hanging sign and saw small stacks of torches, saplings, bonemeal, and three pieces of pork.

"Well we've got saplings and bonemeal in here, Simon. We know what to do with those, don't we?"

* * *

><p>Annahvi grimaced when she saw her reflection in the window. Although she had scrubbed away all the dried blood and dirt, she still looked terrible. Cuts and bruises decorated her from head-to-toe, including a rather large mark under her eye. most of her serious wounds were bandaged and hidden under her clothes, but it did little to ease her mind. It was a completely different person staring back at her - a beaten and broken little girl.<p>

After several minutes of Annahvi urging him, Skylord_Lysander had gone off to do a quick patrol around Skyhold and maybe find Xephos and Honeydew, although he promised to come back as soon as possible. She gripped the chair beside her bed and carefully pulled herself off of the bed and onto her feet. She was still so weak from the previous days' events, and her leg began to ache once she stood up, but she simply gripped the chair harder with her good hand and forced herself to continue walking. It was ridiculous. She could barely walk, and her left hand was completely useless. There was no way Annahvi could fight against any monsters - she was probably too weak to even hold a pickaxe.

_"Why are you doing this?" _The Elf turned to see Isis sitting on the hospital bed, where she was perviously. _"Didn't you promise Skylord_Lysander you wouldn't overexert yourself?"_

"I know what I promised," she began, "But I can't just sit around and do nothing! I need to be strong enough to fight for myself."

_"At least let me help you," _Isis suggested as she moved towards her friend, _"If you train more with me then you can fight just as strong as before."_

The Elf looked to her shadow with an expression full of conflicted emotions; anger, confusion, guilt, curiosity. But finally, Annahvi sighed and sat down in the chair she wad holding onto. Though it was hard to be certain, Isis looked relieved and quickly motioned to a vase full of flowers.

_"Let's start with something simple. I want you to try and pick up a flower and bring it to me."_

Annahvi looked at the vase in a mix of confusion and caution before she took in a deep breath. After hours and days of training with Isis, she knew what she would have to do. She could feel the slight breeze traveling through the room, the heat from the sun through the windows, the energy that danced around her. Her hands conducted the world around them, though she remained as still as a statue.

Slowly, her mind began to waver. The very idea of controlling the world around them was mind boggling. She imagined controlling the world around her: creating new life, changing mountains, the very earth would bend at her will as she summoned fires and storms.

So much... chaos.

The ground began to slowly split, the skies quickly turned grey, and the waters became an inky black. Soon the Elf was consumed in darkness. Voices cried for help or cursed her name while images of ghostly faces flashed past her face. What was once a dream had rapidly became a waking nightmare. She tried to block out the world around her, but there was no escaping. No hope, no-

_CRASH_

The sound of shattering porcelain snapped Annahvi from her thoughts and her mind was quickly reeled back to reality. She looked to see the vase had been broken into several scattered pieces. Water from the vase dripped down the table and joined the colored shards on the carpet. Isis examined the vase without saying a word before she turned to Annahvi. She didn't look upset, but she certainly wasn't happy.

"I...I'm sorry." Annahvi said as she looked at the jagged shards, "I just can't do this."

_"That's because you're worrying too much. You need to think of calm thoughts, otherwise you'll just lose control again. Here," _she motioned to the half-finished tray of food beside them, _"Try and lift this apple, alright?"_

Without a word, she nodded her head and looked down at the fruit. Think calming thoughts, she told herself. When she closed her eyes once more, the first thing that came to mind was the Celaeno. The sunrise had looked so beautiful that morning as they sailed above the skies. She could imagine herself with Xephos, Honeydew, Skylord_Lysander, and Knight_Peculier as they traveled through the skies. Perhaps they weren't headed back to the Yogcave this time. Maybe they were on a different adventure, or perhaps they were hoping the adventure would find them.

Suddenly she felt something bump against her knee, and when she opened her eyes she saw an apple floating lopsidedly in the air. Nervously her hands reached for it and she grabbed it, just as it was about to fall. Isis was congratulating her, but Annahvi wasn't entirely certain what she was saying. She was too focused on her previous thoughts. If this were earlier, idea of sailing an airship would've been terrifying for her. But now it didn't feel so unnerving as it once did; as long as she wouldn't alone.

* * *

><p>"What's down there?" Xephos asked as they entered the main chamber, "God it's very black."<p>

"It's a lot of black." Honeydew agreed, "I can't see a goddamned thing."

To say it was black would be quite an understatement. The room they had just entered had no torches, no window, no source of light whatsoever., save for the few torches Xephos placed. The two heroes were standing on an elevated platform with a wooden staircase which lead further into the darkness, but with the absolute lack of light and occasional moans of what could only be zombies, neither men were too ecstatic to travel down.

"Oh fantastic," Xephos mumble sarcastically as he followed behind Honeydew to a rather odd terrain.

At the bottom of the stairs was a long platform, about two feet wide and occasionally there would be a block of dirt on either side. Beyond the platform was a cobblestone wall which served to prevented the undead from reaching the two.

"I can hear creatures," Honeydew said as he placed down more torches.

"There's zombies over that side..." Xephos noted once he saw a few monsters trying to scale the walls.

"What on earth...?"

"This is some sort of big, horrible, scary, dark room. There's a few zombies over there..." the Space Man placed down another torch, only to be greeted with the sight of a several zombies reaching for his arm, "Oh God, actually I thing there's quite a few zombies over there."

"Are we supposed to be putting the um... the saplings?" Honeydew suggested, "Is this where we're supposed to be putting the saplings down?"

"Maybe," Xephos shrugged, "Maybe we're supposed to plant the trees in the middle and then, like, walk across."

Suddenly an enormous oak sprouted from the ground where the Dwarf had planted a sapling, providing an extension from the cobblestone platform.

"Alright, you deal with that. I'll head back up here." The Space Man jumped down from the platform and onto the mossy cobblestone below, but when he reached the stairs the path was blocked by a few branches from the newly grown tree. He sighed in irritation before taking his iron sword and hacked his way up the stairs.

"I hope this is the right thing to do..." he heard Honeydew say.

By the time Xephos finally made his way to the top of the platform, Honeydew had practically finished planting and growing enough trees to reach the end. With a bit of caution, the Space Man jumped onto the top of the nearest tree, and was thankful to see he could reach the next treetop with ease.

"Okay," he said, trying to place a torch beside him, only to have it fall of the branches, "It's very dark; I can't seem to actually put torches on these trees."

"No," Honeydew yelled, "You have to put a block down and _then _put a torch."

"Oh right..." Within seconds, Xephos had reached the end of the room with Honeydew right behind him. "Oh there we are; that was simple. Fortunately no spiders came to attack us."

Honeydew cheered as they stepped onto the platform and began to hack away at the cobwebs, before he paused in confusion. "Spiders? What do you mean 'spiders'?"

"Well I mean there were a lot of cobwebs in here; I was kind of expecting to be, just, overwhelmed by spiders."

"Don't be ridiculous," Honeydew scoffed as his friend place down another torch, "Why would there be spiders?"

But as they entered the next room, Xephos looked at the scattered arrows, bones, and string with a slight caution. "Oh...Maybe...Maybe there _were _in here but they all got stuck in the webs and, like, died of suffocation or something. 'Cause there's loads of dead...like, bits of old string and stuff."

The two grimaced at the image that came to mind, before they continued into the next room: a small room of mossy cobblestone and dirt with a large chest in the middle.

"Oh, look!" Honeydew quickly opened the chest and the two were greeted with the sight of several bundles of leaves arranged to look like a tree.

"Oh! Leaves! It's like a little tree."

"It's a sort of _dead_ looking tree," the Dwarf noted, "It doesn't look well, does it?"

"I think we need some leaves - some dead leaves." Xephos said as they grabbed a few bunches of leaves and headed for the exit, but he paused as he looked and saw several massive spiders crawling about. "I can see spiders now, Simon."

"What?"

"Back the way we came..."

"I _knew_ this was too easy! I knew it!" Xephos chuckled at his friend's reaction, climbing through the trees while he did so. However, he was interrupted with the sound of a panicked scream.

"Something's attackin' me!" Honeydew yelled as he ran out of the short corridor and into the open room.

"Are we in there's trap?" Xephos suggested as the Dwarf looked around nervously.

"I can't see it! I couldn't see it, but it was attacking me! Oh God!"

"Are you sure you didn't just walk into a cobweb? Be careful of those - it's a common paranoia."

"No, there was like a 'uhwrah' noise. Maybe that wasn't a spider..."

"Oh..." Xephos mumbled nervously as they leaped from tree to tree, "Oh God. I think we fell into the trap. We are now in their domain." However the two men were interrupted with the sight of a massive spider as it descended from the ceiling and down on the heroes.

"Oh God, it just jumped on my head!"

"Careful!" Honeydew warned, a little too late.

"Oh get it off me! Get it off- oh!" Xephos tired his best to slay the giant arachnid, but he lost his footing and fell onto the mossy cobblestone below.

"They're coming form the ceiling!" Honeydew cried hysterically, "They're coming from everywhere!"

The Space Man quickly scrambled up the wooden steps and to the top of the platform where he rejoined the Dwarf.

"Ugh, get off." he muttered as he knocked back another massive spider. Once the spider was dead, they ran out of the room and towards the exit of the Trial of Life (and Death). "Okay, I think we're good...Maybe..."

* * *

><p>When Skylord_Lysander entered the hospital again, he was shocked to see Annahvi on the carpet, picking up shards of a once intact vase. The area surrounding her was soaked with water, and flowers lay scattered across the rug.<p>

"Annahvi?" he began in confusion, "What happened?"

The Elf looked up from the floor and smiled apologetically as she placed the bits of porcelain on the table beside her. "Don't worry too much," she said, her hands fumbled as she tried to pick up another shard. "I accidentally knocked over the vase. I guess I'm still out of sorts."

Skylord_Lysander looked down at the remaining shards on the floor with a look of concern, but when he saw Annahvi's tired but honest smile his face softened slightly. He knelt down beside her and picked up the last of the vase pieces before standing up. "Well as long as no one got hurt." he said. He offered his hand to Annahvi, but she smiled and shook her head before grabbing the bedpost and pulling herself to her feet.

"I believe that we should be making our way to the middle spire now," he began, "Are you feeling well enough to walk?"

"I'm fine!" she let go of the Skylord's hand and tried to look confident, but it appeared to have little affect on him. It actually appeared to do the exact opposite,and made her look even more helpless, especially with all of the bandages covering her. He could barely conceal a chuckle as she struggled to reach the door.

When Annahvi finally reached the entrance to the middle spire, she felt as though she was about to collapse in relief. Walking with a wounded leg wasn't exactly the most pleasant, especially when it involved walking up stairs and refusing to take the help from anybody. It probably would've taken half the time if she had let Skylord_Lysander or Isis's help, but that would mean she would have to swallow her pride. She made her way to the nearby wall and happily slumped against it and slid to the ground. But when she looked up from her seat, she saw Skylord_Lysander with a nervous smile.

"Um...This is merely the bottom of the middle spire." he laughed, "We need to get to the top." And with that, he pointed to a pair of stairs which wound around one another, leading to the roof of the building. He watched with a concerned smile as Annahvi groaned in frustration. Without waiting for permission, Skylord_Lysander took her by the hand and hoisted the Elf to her feet and wrapped her arm over his neck. "We' d better get walking..."

She eyed the stairs with a bitterness before she sighed and took his hand and carefully leaned on his side for support - there were no bedposts at Annahvi's disposal this time. Isis pouted as she watched the two make their way up the stairs to the top of the middle spire. The stairs were far too narrow for more than one person at a time and Annahvi constantly insisted that she could walk perfectly fine, but the moment she looked down from the stairs she grabbed onto the nearest thing for support: Skylord_Lysander.

When they finally reached the last of the stairs, Annahvi removed her arm from him and sat down in the snow. The cold actually helped to ease the pain in the Elf's leg, though the peace only lasted for a few more minutes.

"Lysander!" a familiar Dwarf yelled, "Annahvi!"

And without any warning the latter of the two was tackled into the snow by Honeydew.

"Aha," Skylord_Lysander laughed as Xephos was quick to join the three, "you made it!"

"I think that's enough, Simon." Xephos laughed when he looked down at Annahvi, lying on the ground and covered in snow "How are you?"

"Good," she answered with a laugh, "A little shaken up, but good."

She quickly hopped to her feet, careful not to put too much weight on her bad leg.


	36. Chapter 30 - Part 2

**A/N: If you are reading this, then I'd just like to inform you that you are reading an updated version of Chapter 30 - Part 2. Chapter 30 was originally going to be a 3-Part chapter, but there wasn't enough to divide nicely into three parts. So instead I've divided one enormous chapter into two slightly less enormous parts. Please enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"Do you have the items?" Skylord_Lysander asked as Honeydew continued to jump up and down.<p>

"We do!" Xephos answered.

"We've got fire, and we've got snow!" Honeydew cheered, "We've got tree leaves, we've got snake- 'We got snake'? We got cake."

"And snake," the Space Man added as he put down a few spiderwebs, "And we got lots of cobwebs to get trapped in horribly."

"Oh lovely," Annahvi laughed sarcastically, although Skylord_Lysander was less than pleased with the bundles of cobwebs Xephos showed them.

"Come with me!" the Skylord instructed, climbing up a nearby ladder and to the very top of the middle spire. Honeydew and Xephos followed behind and made their way up the ladder, but the Space Man paused when he saw Annahvi simply sitting on the ledge, overlooking the Skyhold. She sat there in silence, watching as the sun began to slowly descent beyond the horizon. She appeared to be so calm and at rest, even after everything that had happened. While it caused a bit of concern, Xephos was simply glad that she was safe. With that, he climbed up the ladder and joined his other friends

"You must use the items to break through this seal!" Skylord_Lysander instructed, stepping aside to let the two men contemplate.

"Fire?" Honeydew suggested to the Space Man.

"Well I guess putting snow and leaves on it isn't going to do very much. We got four items, didn't we? So..."

"Are you _sure_ about this?" Honeydew asked skeptically as Xephos began placing down snow, leaves, and Netherrack.

"Close enough!" the Skylord yelled as Xephos and Honeydew set fire to the last corner of wood. Seconds later, the wood began to burn away into nothing but ash and smoke, revealing a metal hatch underneath.

"Huzzah!"

"There is actually something down here," Xephos said as he examined the hatch.

"We could've just used the fire," Honeydew noted, "That's all we needed - the fire! In fact, we didn't even need the fire! I've got a flint and steel here, look!" He showed Xephos the piece of rock and metal band, "We could've just used this! And saved all this bother!"

"They were't really needed, of course," Skylord_Lysander admitted, "But you are now fully fledged Skylords!"

"Oh, you jerk!" Honeydew said, laughing slightly, but he was silence when the Skylord handed each of them a pair of flight goggles.

"Here are you goggles." he said before opening the hatches, "And now, the control room!" Without a pause for thought, Skylord_Lysander jumped down into the tiny room below with Xephos and Honeydew reluctantly following behind.

The room was quite unlike any other part of the Skyhold. It was made completely of metal, and one of the walls was completely decorated with controls, chests, and computer monitors. The copious amount of dust and cobwebs suggested that the control room had been abandoned for years, even though the computer screens were fully functional.

"This looks oddly familiar..." Honeydew said as he looked around. "This is a bit weird." The Space Man admitted, but the two of them quickly stopped talking when they saw Skylord_Lysander slowly approach the controls and screens, "This place has not been used in a long time."

"It's a bit dusty..." Honeydew said with a cough.

"There is actually a sign on the wall here," Xephos motioned to the signs hanging above one of the chests with a slight curiosity. "It says...What does it say? _'_N-comm System...Authorized Personnel Only...NCS Skyhold Main Flight Control Deck...High Voltage...', Simon."

"What on earth..."

"Hmm..." Skylord_Lysander thought aloud, "This record gives me access to the..." But as his eyes scanned over the text appearing on the monitors, his voice slowly trailed off until he suddenly jumped back, "My word! The Skyhold as a propulsion system!"

"Oh my God..." Honeydew mumbled.

"It can move?!" Realizing the severity of the matter at hand, Skylord_Lysander turned to the two with a look of gratitude, "Thank you, heroes!"

"So this is the power of the Skyhold," Honeydew tried to piece together, "This is the thing that Israphel wanted to use."

"I guess so..." Xephos agreed, although he was just as confused as the Dwarf.

"Were the Skyhold to be taken by Israphel, it would have become is dread fortress!" Skylord_Lysander explained, "I must remain here, to safeguard this place and rebuild the Skylords! But you have my sword when the final battle comes! And the power of Skyhold!"

"Alright, Lysander." Xephos said as the Dwarf beside him saluted, but then he paused. "But then...Okay, so where's the map fragment then? Um... what's in these chests?"

"Alas," Skylord_Lysander sighed, "there is no fragment here...Just these defunct televisions. However, should you ned an airplane, I can provide you with one for your next flight!"

"Broken TV's?" Honeydew opened the chest the Skylord motioned to and pulled out two televisions. But as he looked at them in curiosity there was a spark in his mind.

"Lewis!" he said, "These television sets are pumpkins."

"...Right...?"

"They're pumpkins, Lewis!"

"Have you just had an epiphany?"

"I've had an epiphany! We have to put...We have to...put...We...We have to use our _head_... heads, plural; there's two of us!"

"What? Oh, like Baako said?" Xephos asked.

"Yes, like the explode-y man who turned into jam and...Oh God, I feel ill again."

"Is everything alright down there?" Annahvi yelled from outside, "All I'm hearing right now is 'pumpkins!'.'"

"Yes, it's broken," Skylord_Lysander said sarcastically as Honeydew placed down one of the televisions, "Well done."

However, the oddities did not end there. Honeydew grabbed the spare television, and instead of placing it down or putting it away, he place it on his head as if it were a helmet. Xephos couldn't help but burst out into laughter as he looked at his Dwarven friend, while Skylord_Lysander simply watched in confusion.

"That's now what you do with televisions." the latter of the two said, slightly concerned with Honeydew's mental stability

"And how does that actually help in any way?" Xephos asked.

"Oh!" Honeydew yelled, "What the fuck is this!?" He looked around frantically in excitement, but to the other two men he simply looked like a deranged Dwarf with a television on his head.

"It's like a heads-up display, Lewis. Put-Put...Put a pumpkin on your head! Put a telly on your head!"

Whether it was honest curiosity or just humoring, Xephos took the spake television and placed his head through a small hole at the base. The insides were a set of wires springs, gears, and even a pressurized gauge. Perhaps a little extreme, but nothing out of the ordinary for a television. However, the screen was certainly anything but ordinary. Digital text decorated the monitor, and in the middle was a large quote.

_"IT'S TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN"_

After taking a minutes to contemplate the meaning behind the text, Xephos finally spoke. "Okay...?"

"What is this?" Honeydew asked, his voice slightly muffled by the televisions, "Is it a clue?

"I think so. It says: 'It's turtles all the way down'."

"Turtles...Turtles! We saw the turtle!"

"Yeah...Oh God! So does that mean..."

"We must go to the turtle, Lewis! I-I don't know why, but we just must!"

"You two are quite barmy indeed..." Skylord_Lysander said as he watched the two men with televisions on their heads.

"I have a feeling!" the Dwarf explained, "It's a gut feeling, Lewis!"

"Take them off before your eyes go square!" Skylord_Lysander scolded, but that only caused more laughter and confusion.

"Shut up, Lysander!" Xephos laughed, "Okay...Let's get the hell out of here! How do we get out of this fucking hole?"

"I don't know!" Honeydew half-laughed, half-cried, "I don't know what's going on anymore! This is insane!"

Xephos laughed at his friend as he began to build a stone tower up to the hatch, "Okay, up we go! And out!"

However, as he reached the metal hatch, the Space Man found himself unable to continue any higher. "Oh God," he sighed, "I can't get out of here! I don't have a pick or anything. Help!"

He looked down, hoping to see Honeydew and Skylord_Lysander making their way up to the top of the hatch, but was disheartened with the sight of Honeydew giggling to himself with a television still on his head, "Take that TV off of your head!" Xephos yelled, "And come and help me!"

Annahvi and Isis sat beside each other in the moonlight, both entrapped in their separate thoughts. The younger of the two looked to face the other, and tilted her head to the side in confusion. Even through Isis lacked any facial features besides a set of bright purple eyes, it was quite obvious to see she was deeply concerned about something.

"What's on your mind?" Annahvi asked to her ghostly shadow friend.

_"We need to find that book..."_ she answered, _"It's crucial that we find it!"_

"I understand," the Elf nodded her head, "If I had to guess, I'd say it's still underground in Skylord_Vitali's chambers." The very idea of that dreaded apple tree caused a wave of cold to crash against her, but she didn't say or do anything else. There was a long pause before Isis reluctantly spoke up.

_"So I suppose we have to go back down there?"_

Annahvi had anticipated that question since she had woken up in the Hospital, but even now she was unsure of the answer. What happened underneath that tree was blurred into an unrecognizable haze, so terrifying but oh-so tempting. Skylord_Vitali was dead, there were enough torches placed as to prevent any lurking monsters, and there were no spawners. There was no risk; she would be safe, right?

With a frustrated sigh, Annahvi stood up and began to climb down the stairs. It took a few seconds for Isis to realize her friend had left her side. She hurried down the stairs just in time to leave the middle spire with the Elf.

_"Are you sure about this?" _Isis asked in genuine concern, but Annahvi simply nodded her head and continued out the spire. By then, it was the middle of the night and the sky was as black as ink. The night was cold and damp, but the two of them pursued through the dark.

Annahvi simply _had _to do this. It wasn't just for the book, it wasn't for Isis, it wasn't for her pride. It was for her sanity. She had seen, heard, and felt the very essence of her nightmares, and it wouldn't leave her alone. Despite the laughter and kindness her friend had brought, it did little to ease the paranoia trapped in her mind. And it would stay that way unless something was done.

The Elf was so entangled in her own thoughts, she hardly noticed they had reached her destination. It was only when she tripped on a nearby root that Annahvi looked up and saw the apple tree, just as black and ominous as it was that fateful night. The metallic scent of iron wafted its way to her senses, causing her body to tense. She sighed and climbed up to the hole Xephos and Honeydew had dug, and slowly made her way down.

She followed the trail of blood to the underground room of the fallen Skylords, the smell of blood growing stronger with every step. Her mind was screaming, begging, pulling on nerves - anything to turn around and simply walk away from this nightmare, but Annahvi knew in her heart that she couldn't turn back. She walked past the chest of remains and twisted signs and grabbed the metal hatch with her hands. It groaned and squeaked in protest, but nonetheless it opened and granted her entrance. Her heart began to pound harder and harder as she saw blood on the stone floor. She carefully descended down the ladder and into the room below, and was shocked with what she saw.

Dark red blood, covered the walls and floor of the room, some had even managed to reach the other end of the room. A single bookcase was toppled over, revealing an iron door, and several books lay scattered in the pool of crimson liquid. Reluctantly, Annahvi began to sort through all o the books, those on the shelves, those on the floor, those stained in blood, she even checked inside Vitali's coffin. But, to her dismay, there was nothing. The only remaining option was to go through the door on the other side of the room.

She knew all too well what was inside that room. Blood, tears, filth, and madness. She could still hear her own screaming pounding against the walls, crying out for help. Images of Vitali and her friends flashed in and out of her mind; with the combination of blood, darkness, and claustrophobia, Annahvi practically fell to her knees. But instead she simply clenched her fists. She mustered all of the strength she had left in her heart and opened the door.

The room left little to her imagination. Random blotches of blood, old and new, forming an almost perfect circle in the middle of the room where Annahvi had been sitting as well as countless other, no doubt. She stood in the middle of the room and inhaled the overwhelming scent of blood. She could see and hear every single detail. From the insane laughter of the vampire to the very motions of the shed blood. Annahvi looked down in the corner and her eyes widened in horror. Her stomach lurched forward when she stepped closer to them They were practically drowning in a pool of drying blood.

A pile of bloody fingernails and teeth.

Annahvi winced in pain as she felt a small hole where one of her teeth once were, the taste of blood lingering in her mouth; the taste of insanity. It was at that point the Elf fell to her knees and screamed.

The scars that covered her body suddenly seemed do dig deeper into her flesh as pain racked her body. How much longer would they have to endure this torture? Following a path of destruction and pain, chasing after monster that evaded their every grasp, witnessing the true intentions of Israphel in his insanity; how much longer until _she_ would be drained of any sanity?

Suddenly she heard the sound of the hatch opening and someone called out.

"ANNAHVI?!" Skylord_Lysander called out.

She couldn't respond to his call, she simply couldn't find the strength to move. As the Skylord's footsteps grew closer and closer, she remained on her knees, hands covered her ears and eyes squeezed shut. When he entered the room, she looked up to meet his concerned face.

"Oh God..." he ran to her side and pulled the Elf to her feet "What are you doing down here?"

"Lysander..."

She looked up and studied him in curiosity. His eyes were shining with a mix of worry and relief, and he was breathing heavily. Annahvi felt a pang of guilt; how could she have been so reckless? Running off into the middle of the night without telling anyone, especially with her injuries? She should've known that her friends would be concerned.

"I...I'm sorry, Lysander." she said, looking away to the blood-stained floor, "I just...I needed to get this over with."

"It's alright," he said, "Nobody's hurt; that's all that matters. That's all that matters..." He whispered the same reassuring words over and over again as he kept his arms around her protectively. They stayed like that for an eternity.

When they parted, Annahvi followed Skylord_Lysander out from under the apple tree and to the Trial of Ice - apparently Xephos and Honeydew had created a waterfall which allowed them to safely reach the frozen ocean without risk of injury - and in the distance the two could see a massive statue of a green turtle.

"Are Xephos and Honeydew already there?" Annahvi asked.

"I believe so." Skylord_Lysander answered. They carefully made their way down the waterfall and to the thick layer of ice below. By the time the two of them made their way to the massive turtle statue, Xephos and Honeydew appeared from the turtles mouth and into the daylight. "Ah, heroes!" Skylord_Lysander greeted the two men as they reached the solid ice.

"Hello, Lysander!" Honeydew greeted in a silly voice.

"We've found the map fragment!" Xephos declared, showing the two a piece of paper he managed to keep dry.

"Congratulations!" he laughed, "In my haste I forgot to give you your planes!"

"Can I have a cool-looking one?" Honeydew asked as the Skylord placed down three planes.

"One for you, Space Man! One for you, Dwarf! And for you, Annahvi! And some fuel!" he handed them a stack of coal for the engines.

"Where are we going now?"

"Lewis, we're going to save the world!" Honeydew declared boldly as he sat in his plane - a lovely pink and red floral plane, "Geographically, I don't know where we're going - got no bloody clue!"

"You head directly south, to Stonehold!"

"To Stonehold?" the three heroes looked at each other in confusion.

"Uh...Stone_holm_!" the Skylord corrected himself, "Stupid Dwarven language! Farewell heroes!"

"Farewell then, Lysander." Xephos replied.

"Bye, Lysander!" Honeydew said as they began to start their planes, "You look after Skyhold! Make sure no vampires go mad and murder everyone! Bye!"

Annahvi laughed at her two friend and turned to Skylord_Lysander with a smile full of mixed emotions. "So...I assume this is good-bye?" As relief as she felt with the trials over and map fragment found, she still felt somewhat upset about leaving Skyhold.

Skylord_Lysander smiled at her and shook his head, "We will meet again at the final battle against Israphel, this I promise. After that...I can only hope our paths shall cross once more. Under better circumstances, of course."

"Of course," she laughed, "Well...Until next time." She began to walk off to her plane, a strange spectrum of colors and wavelengths, but Skylord_Lysander took her hand before she could go any farther. "Lysander?"

"Before you go," he said, "I thought it would be proper of me to give you a parting gift. Here..."

In his hands, he held out Annahvi's green cloak - freshly cleaned and neatly folded. "Oh..." she said, completely forgetting about the clothing she had given him when they were at Skylord_Jasper's mansion. "Thank you, Lysander. I suppose it did need to get washed."

"One more thing," he said, "Close your eyes."

"What? Why?" Annahvi asked in a mix of suspicion and complete confusion.

"Trust me."

Reluctantly, the Elf closed her eyes and waited for whatever would happen. A hug? Another gift? Or perhaps he was going to shove her into the ocean as one last joke.

"Open your eyes," he instructed.

When she looked up at him, here eyes widened slightly in shock and she placed her hand on her head and felt the glass and leather of-

"Your flight goggles?"

Annahvi hardly ever received gifts, let alone something with such sentimental value, "Are you- Are you sure about this?"

"You may not have completely the trials, but you have the strength of a Skylord. Take good care of them, Annahvi."

Skylord_Lysander beamed at her brightly, but the Elf was the exact opposite. She looked up at him with an almost blank expression before practically tackling him in a warm embrace. He looked at her in shock before smiling weakly and returning an affectionate hug.

Despite how much she wanted to stay with Skylord_Lysander, she knew that it was time for her to leave. With one last smile, she hopped into the pilot's seat and filled the engine with coal. As the engine sputtered to life, Annahvi took her cloak and began to place it around her shoulders. But as she did so, she heard a distinct _clunk_ and turned behind her seat in confusion.

There on the floor was an all-too-familiar book with it's bright purple gem shining up at her.

"Lysander...?"

"Annahvi!" Honeydew yelled over the engines, "We have to get moving!"

The Elf spared one last glance as Skylord_Lysander, who simply smiled back, before nodding her head and putting on her new goggles. Her plane began to move forward until she suddenly felt herself leaving the ice and soaring through the air. She watched as Skylord_Lysander began to grow smaller and smaller as she flew higher and higher. Within seconds she was flying over Skyhold with Xephos and Honeydew.

"Annahvi," Xephos laughed, "I never saw you as such a romantic."

But she wasn't listening. She was too focused on their next trial. Whatever troubles would face them, Annahvi knew she would have to be ready. Skylord_Lysander's words provided the comfort she had long since wanted, and she knew that as long as people like Skylord_Lysander, Xephos, and Honeydew were by her side, nothing was impossible.


	37. Chapter 31

**A/N: Just a quick disclaimer, I left out a lot of the funny parts from this chapter because I wanted it to be more serious. Don't worry, I'm not going to go into full-on grim and bleak, I just thought it'd fit the mood for this chapter. If you don't like it, I'll try and revise it. Please enjoy and give me your opinions - they're what's most important to this story.**

* * *

><p>After hours of flying through the air with an extremely vague sense of intended direction, Xephos looked down from his multicolored plane and was relieved to see what appeared to be a massive stone courtyard which lead up into the mountains.<p>

"Aha!" he called out to his friends, "This must be it here on the right, guys. Can you see it? Stoneholm? Can you see?"

Honeydew let out an amazed gasp as they flew around the courtyard, "Oh my God! I think I can! I think I _can_ see!"

"I'm just gonna go around the edge, um... around the side, to see if I can find a landing area. A suitable area for landing."

"Oh God," the Dwarf said with a growing sense of dread, "I'm not very good at landing. I'm not very good at landing, Lewis!"

"Just hold on to the rudder," the Space Man instructed, only to realized his mistake in directions. "Ugh, 'the rudder', the steering wheel."

"The rudder? Okay, I'm holding onto the rudder- WOOOAAAAAHHH! WAAAAAAAH!"

Xephos and Annahvi couldn't help but laugh as they heard Honeydew yelling in fake distress. Even in such a dire time of need their Dwarven friend never failed to lighten the mood.

"That hasn't worked out so well!" he laughed before continued screaming.

"I'm coming in for landing now. Don't worry, I'm sure this will be absolutely fine." Annahvi watched as Xephos began to slowly descend to the ground until he had reached a small dimple in the ground and came to a gradual stop. With nervous hands, she mimicked her friend's movements and began to slowly grow closer and closer to the cobblestone path leading up to Stoneholm. As expected, the landing was amateurish and very bumpy, but at least she wasn't sitting on the floor with strewn bits of a destroyed plane.

_"You've never steered a plane before, have you?"_

"Hey, it couldn't been way worse!" The Elf replied as she and her shadow left the slightly dented plane.

Annahvi joined Xephos and Honeydew down the cobblestone path to the gates of Stoneholm and it was _then_ that she realized how extravagant the cobblestone structure actually appeared. Beside the stone and iron gate were two large waterfalls of molten lava as they descended into the ground below, and beyond the gate was a courtyard of stone, cobblestone, stone slabs, and cobblestone stands. In the middle was a large pool of bright red liquid rock above an iron statue, unaffected by the extreme heat. Small fires blossomed in the cobblestone displays, and on the other side of the courtyard was a large cobblestone staircase which, presumably, lead to the entrance of Stoneholm.

The first thing the heroes noticed when they entered the courtyard was the voice of a rather familiar man. "But ye've got to let me in! I'm a Dwarf!" Upon hearing this, Honeydew raised his head in confusion.

"Spacker?"

"Okay so Spacker's here," Xephos sighed as they headed for the staircase, "Well he said he would be, wouldn't he? So he must be up here somewhere."

"I told you already." a man yelled, his voice thick with a similar Scottish accent, "No one enters, no one leaves."

"Why?"

"He's havin' a bit of trouble getting in. Is it like a club? Are they- Is the bouncer not lettin' him in? Has he got trainers on? Is he not wearin' a tie?"

Xephos and Annahvi laughed alongside the Dwarf as they began to climb up the stairs. As the three began the climb upwards, they looked to the entrance of Stoneholm and noticed the name of the guard who had spoken. Kormag_Darkforge.

"Darkforge..." Honeydew said, testing the name on his tongue, "That's bit of a sinister name, isn't it?"

"Rotting Plague, that's why." Kormag_Darkforge continued, "Stoneholm is sealed."

"_Plague_?! Wait what?!"

Xephos and Annahvi looked at each other in concern, following behind Honeydew as they finally reached the top of the stairs. There at the entrance were two Dwarves, one whom they already recognized. The second Dwarf was on the other side of iron bars and an open iron gate. He looked much like Honeydew and Spacker, but with a dark red beard which was decorated with gold coils.

"Plague?" Spacker_LeChuck asked with a hack, "But-"

"You heard me," the third Dwarf interrupted, "now leave!"

And with that, he pulled a lever and sealed the iron gates shut. Xephos stepped back in shock before turning to the undead Dwarf with a sigh.

"Blast it..." the latter of the two swore but smiled when he saw the three travelers, "Ah, heroes! Ye made it... But I am confused. Kormag... the Guard Captain... he is not as I remember. The doors a sealed, and the place stinks of death."

"Nice..." Xephos mumbled sarcastically.

"Bit like you, Spacker!" Honeydew replied with a laugh, unbeknownst to him that a certain shadow was giggling at his joke as well.

"Be nice, guys." Annahvi sighed, looking vaguely at Isis.

"Hey! I am not that stinky!" Spacker replied, "This plague..." the undead Dwarf coughed, "It is... suspicious. As ye must know, we Dwarves are immune to any plague. Tis the rock in our blood!"

"Lewis, I've never had a plague." Honeydew informed, "So this might be true. I've never caught any plague in all of my years."

"The clues to the final map piece lay within." the undead Dwarf continued, "We must enter, I know a back way in. Follow me!"

And with that, Spacker walked past the iron gates and began climbing a cobblestone staircase. It spiraled upwards like a spring, and by the time the four reached the top of the staircase, they were able to stand on the very top of the iron gates.

"Up there," the undead Dwarf motioned to the top of the mountain, just a few feet above, "We must climb the wall! Over the peak lies a skylight we can crash through. Luckily-"

But the zombie paused when he saw Honeydew take out a few stacks of ladder and began to place them against the stone wall. "Ah! Ye have a ladder."

With Honeydew leading ahead and Xephos following behind, they climbed up to the very to of the mountain peak, though Annahvi had to rely on Isis to get to the top of the mountain. Spacker lead the three heroes to the edge of the cliff and pointed down to a glass ceiling below, "Down there, ye see? Watch ye step, lads."

Without needing to say another word, they began to slowly descend down the mountainside, a steep slope with just enough space for the adventurers to safely make their way down. But finally, they reached the base of the mountain and to the skylight.

"How do we get in, Spacker?" Xephos asked as they looked through the ceiling to the stone stairs below, pausing briefly to notice a stream of laval that poured into a gap between the stairs. "What do you suggest?"

As Honeydew and Spacker began to break apart the skylight, the Space Man noticed a small set of stairs leading to a large glass window. Through the window he could see an iron chandelier and a pair of iron gates and bars.

"Oh!" he called out to his friends, "Oh I see, these are the big doors here. Um... come up here."

"Oh," Honeydew laughed as he stood above a hole in the skylight, "But I was just gonna drop down here,"

"Well that looks fairly safe," Xephos couldn't help be laugh as he shattered the window while Honeydew, Annahvi, and Spacker joined him.

"Oh!" Honeydew said as Xephos began to break more of the glass window "Yeah, this looks a little bit safer than my plan."

While the Dwarf laughed at his own recklessness, the Space Man managed to create a big enough hole in the window for the four to safely pass through. He could only pray that no one heard them as a few shards of glass fell to the stone floor below.

The descent from the window was a bit higher than anticipated, not nearly as tall as the skylight from the stairs but still high enough, and Spacker couldn't help but grunt in pain as he fell to the ground. However, he was quickly silenced by Xephos who was starring down the stairs and through a narrow doorway to a familiar-looking Guard Captain.

"Oh God, the guard's there. He's in, like... Is he in, like, that little guard room? Do we wanna just sneak past?"

The four carefully crept down the side of the stone stairs, only retreating back up the stairs slightly when Kormag began to approach the doorway. It was only after passing the first flight and climbing down the remaining stairs that there was a feeling of safety amongst the adventurers.

"Okay," Honeydew whispered to Spacker, "I think we're okay. Just- Just sneak by."

"How deep does this go?" Xephos asked, "And I'm slightly worried about plague."

"Just... hold your breath whilst you're here; you'll be fine as long as you don't inhale." his friend suggested, as the two Dwarves joined the other two at the bottom of the stairs.

From an opening that divided the bottom of the staircase into two, the four could see a long spacious passageway. Just like the rest of Stoneholm, the passage was made out of stone, cobblestone, and stone slabs. Overhead they would see a long vein of lava traveling down the middle of the ceiling, most likely from the lava above, at both sides was a stream of water, and occasionally there would be a small glass window on the both walls revealing flowing hot magma which provided some light in the dark corridor.

As they continued down the long passage, Isis tapped Annahvi on the shoulder and the Elf was met with an almost fearful expression.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, hoping that none of the men ahead would notice her talking to thin air.

_"I don't like the look of this place." _Isis said, _"And it's not just because of a plague. This entire place is surrounded by some sort of evil. Can't you feel it?"_

Despite how much Annahvi would have preferred to disagree, her shadow _did_ have a point. Ever since they entered the fortress she could sense a sort of change in the atmosphere. An unnerving misplacement of the energies surrounded her and Isis; she could only hope that they would find the map fragment _fast_.

When the four finally reached the end of the hallway, they climbed up a small set of stairs and into, what appeared to be, an enormous forge. Two large streams of lava descended from the ceiling and into a small chamber below, provided by two openings in the ground, and a large iron anvil was rested between the lava. The room branched off into three other different ways, but on the opposite side of the room was a large portion of the stone wall which had been carved out to resemble an emblem of some sort. Judging by the enormous waterfall of lava which illuminated the carving, Annahvi assumed it was bird - possibly a phoenix.

In the middle of the large camber was yet another Dwarf, Rory_Rockhammer, hammering away on the anvil. He looked up from the anvil and the moment he saw the four his expression became one of surprise and confusion

"Uncle Spacker! Is that you?" His voice wasn't as deep or ragged as Spacker or Kormag, so he was probably five years younger than either Dwarf.

"Rory!" Spacker couldn't help but smile when he saw he nephew, "It is good to see you!"

"You look awful, but quickly! I must hide you!" and with that, Rory left the anvil and lead the four down the left archway. In the next room, a stone bridge allowed the heroes to cross over a river of lava and into a small cluster of homes and buildings. Xephos looked around in a mix of curiosity and wonder.

"Come quick!" Rory instructed. Xephos tore his eyes from the buildings and machinery that surrounded him and followed his friends into a small stone building. On the side of the entrance was a sign which read: Magmabloom Armory. As the name suggested, the walls were decorated with all sorts of tools and weaponry, but three heroes had little time to enjoy the coziness before following Rory to the other side of a counter and up a narrow staircase and into a tiny bedroom.

When Xephos and Honeydew entered the room, they instantly turned to a woman who was standing by a pair of bookshelves, Moira_Magmabloom. Her dirty blonde hair was decorated with flowers and she had bright blue eyes, but her most streaking feature was a ragged beard. The two men couldn't help but look at her in confusion.

"Da-Daisy?" Honeydew said in confusion, though he and Xephos were quickly silenced.

"Shh! Down!" she instructed, "Hide the light!"

"What has happened here?" Spacker asked to no one in particular.

"Keep down!" Moira once again hissed as she extinguished the last of the torches.

"There is no plague," Rory explained softly, "But Stoneholm has fallen."

"What?!" The undead Dwarf's eyes went wild and he was barely able to suppress an enraged scream. However, their antics came to an abrupt end when Xephos heard the faint _click_ of an opening door. He turned to face the large window behind him and saw two particular Dwarves coming down a set of stairs.

One of them was Kormag_Darkforge, but the other one was someone none of the heroes had yet to meet. He wore the same clothing as Kormag, but his skin was an almost sickly tan and his grey beard had a single gold coil to tie his beard. Though they were on the other side of the room, the three heroes were able to faintly read the Dwarf's title. King_Finbar.

The two were surrounded by several other Dwarves, but there was something quite unsettling about them. Their eyes were cold and void of life, they groaned and moaned if in constant pain, and as they moved about aimlessly their limbs practically jerked forward as if they were being pulled by string. Isis and Annahvi watched in confusion and horror. King_Finbar's every presence sent the world around them into a frenzy of chaos, absorbing any remaining energy from the lifeless vessels that surrounded him.

"Are you sure it was them?" the King asked in a ragged voice.

"Aye," Kormag answered, "Two Dwarves, a human, and an Elf."

"Have you sealed the doors?"

"Aye."

"Good. The portal construction is complete. First... Rory? Come here please."

Annahvi turned to the young Dwarf and began to reach for his shoulder, but was quickly interrupted by Xephos who quickly grabbed her wrist, shaking his head. They could only watch helplessly as their friend reluctantly left the safety of the armory and stepped onto the bridge and into plain sight.

"My king," Rory's voice was full of hesitance, they prayed neither of the two Dwarves noticed, "I have been refining obsidian as you request."

King_Finbar smiled wickedly once he heard this, "We have enough now. But you have served me well. Your reward..."

What happened next was too mortifying to even fully contemplate. In the blink of an eye, King_Finbar had been replaced by the pale face of Israphel. Rory flinched back in horror but before he could even attempt to run away Israphel raised his hand. There was a booming explosion as if thunder had just struck, and when the heroes looked again they saw King_Finbar and the reanimated corpse of Rory surrounded by fire. His eyes were glazed over and his body limped forward to King_Finbar's side.

Annahvi instantly covered her mouth, for fear that any noise she made would be heard by the King and Guard Captain. A wave of cold wash over her body as she felt Rory's very soul being drained into the King Dwarf. The feeling was terrifyingly overwhelming with an emptiness that continued to linger around her; was this what dying felt like?

King_Finbar sighed happily, his expression was one of ecstasy before twisting into pure malice, "I feel his power flowing through me! Kormag, you must interrogate the prisoner again."

"Prisoner?" Xephos repeated, "Wonder who that is..."

"If he doesn't speak, kill him and burn this place. I will travel to the portal and prepare the power transfer."

"Yes master."

And with that, the two Dwarves went their separate ways. Kormag headed back up the stone staircase, and King_Finbar headed out the doorway which lead to the room with the anvil and bird carving.

Not a single word was said as the four adventurers were lead back down the stairs and out of the armory by Moira. It was only until they reached the bridge that she spoke out.

"Rory... no..." Her voice was tiny and broken.

Xephos and Honeydew tried their best to comfort her, though it seemed to do little to ease her broken heart. Annahvi could only watch with concealed hate and sympathy. As they crossed back over the bridge, Xephos turned to a metal sign which was nailed to the side of the wall near the stairs and doorway.

_Upstairs Jail and Prison_

"Oh right, so they went up to the jail, and Finbar went off somewhere else."

While Honeydew and Xephos left to explore the nearby bar, Annahvi turned to Isis with hope and confusion. She whispered softly, hoping not to attract the attention of the Dwarves.

"Rory's soul... Is it- I mean... Can he be saved?"

_"...I'm not sure." _her voice was full of uncertainty and regret, _"I've never managed to merge a soul to a dead body before, let alone a soul absorbed by another being."_

Hearing this, Annahvi nodded her head. Sure she had watched people die before, a statement she was ashamed to admit, but she had never actually _felt_ someone's spirit leave their body.

"A stranger arrived last month..." Moira explained as the three of them joined Xephos and Honeydew in the pub, "He was locked in the prison. Now Finbar is busy, you may be able to free him. You must act quickly! I can accompany ye, but my bow will be useless. We nee to hurry!"

And with that, they all ran out of the pub and up the stairs to the prison, with Xephos leading they way. By the time they had reached the top of the stairs they heard the familiar voice of Kormag, "You will talk, scum. Tell me what you know!"

The closer they hurried down a corridor when they heard another voice. "Never!" it yelled back, before screaming in agony. Suddenly the three heroes stopped dead in their tracks.

That voice...

"It's Knight_Peculier!" Xephos said. Without saying another word, he and his friends sprinted down the stone hallway, around the corner, down the stairs, and into the prison room.

Kormag turned from the prison cell and spotted Xephos and Honeydew, "What? Who are you!" The Guard Captain grabbed a war axe which was strapped to his back and the heroes held onto their bows, swords, and picks as best as they could.

"DIE!"

Xephos shot and arrow into Kormag's shoulder, but it was only able to slow the Dwarf down. Spacker quickly ran in front of Xephos, but Kormag merely pushed the zombie to the side before continuing the assault. The Space Man tried to fire another arrow, but in the midst of the fighting he missed and hit the nearby wall.

The others watched at the Dwarf charged after Xephos, his axe wielded high above his head. There was no way that Xephos could fire another arrow in time, and there was no way to escape the attack. With no other option, Xephos charged at Kormag and made a wild grab for the axe, hoping he could wrestle it away before it struck him.

But the axe never fell.

In a single second, Kormag lying dead on the floor. His eyes were half open and the color from his face was already beginning to drain. Taking the time to regain his composure, Xephos looked up to his friends who were making their way to the cell door. "Oh God," he sighed, "Good shot, Annahvi."

"Don't thank me," the Elf shrugged in with a chuckle, "It was Moira who shot him."

The female Dwarf opened her mouth to reply, but what quickly interrupted with the voice of a familiar friend. "Heroes! Thank goodness you are here!"

Wasting no more time, Honeydew ran over to the prison cell, careful not to trip on Kormag's dead body. He instantly gripped the lever beside the door and yanked down.

The cell door swung open, and out stepped Knight_Peculier.


	38. Chapter 32

"There he is..." Xephos said to Annahvi. He couldn't help but smile as Honeydew practically trapped Knight_Peculier in a fierce bear hug, but the Elf couldn't blame him.

It was hard to believe that the last time they saw their friend over a month ago. The days had gone by so quickly, Xephos couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him once their quest came to an end.

"Let's get these three back to the inn." Moira said, thusly the Space Man's train of thoughts, "They look like they need aid."

"Thank you, Dwarf..." Knight_Peculier sighed as Honeydew helped steady him to his feet. "I was sure it was the end for me... What in Minecraftia are you doing here? It was lucky our paths crossed."

"I this is was fate," Honeydew said as he examined the jail cell, "I don't think it was luck."

"Somehow I don't doubt that..." Annahvi said with a slight chuckle, though she was mainly talking to Isis, "But we've definitely been quite lucky."

_"Luck had nothing to do with it," _the shadow said matter-of-factly, _"You were simply keeping your mind clear; you're learning very quickly."_

Annahvi was about to respond with a witty remark, but she was interrupted with the strangest voice she'd ever heard. It was raspy and nasal, but it sounded almost as if it was singing.

"Never gonna givesSsSss you up..."

"What the Hell?" Annahvi joined Honeydew, Knight_Peculier, and Xephos around a small portion of the cobblestone wall, and to her surprise she could see a green Creeper through a small set of iron bars.

"Mr_AsSsstley?" Honeydew said as he approached the bars, "They've locked you up too! Oh no!"

"Can we free him?" Xephos asked as he began to mine away at the iron bars. Though the bars proved to be a bit of a handful, the two men were able to remove a descent amount of the wall, revealing another wall made of bedrock with only a small opening to see through.

"Oh, I can't break through this!" Honeydew said as he tried to mine away at the second wall.

"I wouldn't do that..." Knight_Peculier warned warily, "It's pure bedrock!"

"Mr_AsSsstley! No!"

"I'm no sssssSstranger to love." the Creeper hissed.

"I'll give him a porkchop," the Dwarf sad as he tossed a slab of cooked meat through the opening, and to their surprise the monster actually looked down at the food as if contemplating its purpose.

"He's a clover one, isn't he?" he laughed, "Can we keep him, guys? Can we keep him? I promise to take him for walks, like, twice a day."

"That one looks dangerous," Spacker said as if the three heroes were honestly considering taking ownership over a pet Creeper.

"You know the rulessssSs and sSssso do I." and with that, Mr_AsSsstley disappeared into the corner of the room and the three turned to face their friends.

"Heroes..." Knight_Peculier began, in an attempt to deter away from any more possible oddities, "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to find the final missing piece of the map." Xephos and Honeydew said almost unanimously. Though their friend was more surprised with the news rather than the synchronous speaking.

"You have secured two already?"

"It wasn't easy, but yes."

"Well done!"

And with that, the three of them handed Knight_Peculier a few slips of parchment.

"One of those or two is the map." Xephos explained, "one his Honeydew's laundry list."

"It would be a strange map," the Dwarf admitted, "Like, he's got three-quarters of a proper map, and the other bit is, like, my laundry/shopping list."

"Amazing!" Knight_Peculier said as he pieced together the three relevant map fragments, "I can see the picture unfold before me... but it is not quite finished."

"Why are you here?" Xephos asked.

"Adaephon told me that the Wall was impossible to breach..." he explained, "But it was broken. Do you remember?"

"Yes! It took ages to rebuild."

"He said Verigan had made a deal with the Dwarves. But something must have gone wrong. So I came here."

"Right?"

"It is true," Spacker added with a throaty cough, "I travelled with Verigan. He asked the Dwarves to make sure that the Wall would never fall."

"What kind of help?"

"I don't know. But I fear the answer may lie in the Deepcore."

Upon hearing this, the four heroes looked to each other in a mix of fear and confusion. "The... Deepcore?"

"Yes... An abandoned mineshaft that was sealed... long ago... I fear... I fear... that it has been reopened..." The more and more Spacker explained to his friends, the more and more tired the Dwarf grew, until he had practically collapsed against a nearby wall.

"Enough talk you two." Moira instructed as she helped Spacker to his feet, "You need to rest."

"Aghh..." the Dwarven pirate groaned, "My wounds... yes."

"A couple of pints of strong beer should do it. As for the Deepcore. You'll need a key for that. I can make it, yes.. Fine me beer, lava and gold. I can accompany you if need be."

"So we need beer, lava and gold."

"Okay!" Xephos said as he began to search through his inventory and handed the smith a few ingots of gold. "I think we have to venture into the- the sealed off area - that's the impression that I get - and, um, see what we can find. So shall we do that? That might be a good plan."

"Okay," Honeydew agree and Annahvi nodded her head with a confident smile, "Knight_Peculier and Spacker, you just have a bit of a rest."

"Yeah, you just relax," Xephos reassured to the two men as the four of them began to hurry down the stone corridor, "We'll sort you out. We'll get some beers and you'll be as right as rain in no time at all."

The four hurried down a set of stairs and back into the stone village, where they scattered themselves in hopes of finding any useful supplies.

"What are these other buildings around here?" Xephos asked Annahvi as they crossed over the stone bridge. "So this is the armory..." he muttered softly, approaching the beside the armory. "And this is... Ah! This is the distillery! Is there any beer here?"

Before the Elf could answer his rhetorical question, Xephos stepped inside. She was only able to notice the sign above the doorway before joining him in Darkforge Distillery. Compared to the armory, the distillery was terribly cramped due to an enormous mixing vat and brewery mechanisms that took up a fair amount of space. As Annahvi smiled at Xephos' fascination with the various machinery, she reached into her cloak and pulled out the book.

"It'll take a while to heat up!" the Dwarven woman said as she and Honeydew entered the distillery, "We won't have time; the distilling process will take too long. There may be time for a Golden Apple ale later."

"So where do we go?" Xephos asked, only to have Moira hurry out of the distillery "This way!" she instructed, and the three heroes did as she said.

They followed the Dwarf out of the distillery and into the next chamber, right in front of the a doorway which was sealed off with by a large door of iron, and beside the door hung a few foreboding signs. Xephos looked up for a moment to see that the doorway lead to another chamber called the Halls of the Hammer.

Unfortunately, there was no way they could reach the chamber - not with a massive wall of iron blocking the only entrance. "How do we get into this quarantined area?" he asked, before noticing a lever close to the door. Without a pause for thought, he yanked on the lever and within seconds the door opened, revealing a strange figure lurking the darkness.

"So we don't have to worry about the actual plague," Honeydew clarified, "'Cause it was all just rubbish, was it?"

"Well I don't know!" Xephos said as he quickly backed away from the open door, and slowly but surely, an undead Dwarf loomed out from the darkness.

"Oh God it's a Dwarf!" Honeydew panicked, "OH GOD IT'S A DWARF! Wait I'm a Dwarf."

"Brilliant." Annahvi sighed in irritation as the zombified Dwarf began to lurch towards Honeydew. But just as they managed kill one zombie, two more took its place.

"It happened slowly at first," Moira explained as they quickly killed off the last of the Dwarves and descended into the Hall of Hammers, "A pale faced man was lurking around... Dwarves went missing... Others fell ill, then our great king, Finbar, turned sick and died."

They hurried into what appeared to be a large dining hall with another room right across from them, and a kitchen at the end of the room. But the moment they stepped foot inside, a massive horde of undead Dwarves and skeletons turned to the four and began the assault. For in front of the fireplace was a metal monster spawner. "Get your pick out and start killing that spawner." Xephos instructed calmly as he fired an arrow at a nearby skeleton.

"Watch my back, man!" Honeydew yelled as he began to chip away at the spawner, "Watch my back!"

However, every time Annahvi or Xephos turned around, they were greeted with the ivory skull of a reanimated skeleton. Honeydew was just able to avoid an arrow fired from one of the skeletons, but because of that he had to restart the deconstruction of the monster spawner.

"Dude! Watch my back!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

"You're terrible at this! You're literally terrible at this!"

Their friend could only watch in a mix of frustration and confusion as she saw Xephos buzzing around the room and shooting skeletons before he disappeared into the kitchen. Sadly, the result was yet another monster spawner right in the center of the kitchen.

"Who the fuck keeps a monster spawner in the kitchen?!" Annahvi practically screamed as she ran into the kitchen.

"Take care of the spawner and I'll get the skeletons!" Xephos yelled over the rattling of bones and crashing of kitchen appliances. She nodded her head with a slight reluctance before running to the spawner, and then she froze. There was no way she would be able to break the spawner - not with a pickaxe or sword anyway - but the last thing they needed was more skeletons spawning. Without any other options, Annahvi sighed in frustration.

Xephos swore under his breath as he charged into a nearby skeleton, knocking it into the stone countertops, and spilt its skull with his iron sword. Just as the skeleton crumbled to the ground, he could vaguely hear a strange accompany sound. He turned and was surprised with what he saw. The metal monster spawner in front of her was slowly changing. The metal bars were forced to bend against each other, causing unsettling groans and screeches from the metal. He could only stare in confusion as the spawner was reduced to the likeness of a tiny snowball.

Annahvi turned to him with a sense of urgency, "Okay, the spawner's destroyed. Now let's get going."

"Wait," Xephos grabbed her arm, "What the hell did you do?!"

"Xephos, now isn't a very good time to talk; can we explain things later?"

But before their conversation could continue, Annahvi had left the kitchen and rejoined with Moira and Honeydew inside the dining hall.

"Unlike the others," Moira explained once the last of the skeletons were defeated, "he rose again, with great powers! No one could defeat him, and soon he enslaved us all."

Honeydew and Annahvi were listening with a mix of interest and guilt, but Xephos wasn't really paying attention to Moira's story; he was too busy trying to understand what had happened in the kitchen. How on earth could Annahvi - or _anyone_ for that matter - take cadge made of solid metal bars, and reduce it to a crumpled ball of tin foil? She hadn't even _touched_ the damn thing and yet it was bent as easily as paper. As they continued into the next room - a storage area labeled 'Cold Store - Xephos was able to keep up with Annahvi.

"Annahvi, just tell what happened, okay?" Though it was too dark to tell, Annahvi was able to imagine the look of his face; concern and disappointment.

"I said I'll tell you later, okay?" she grumbled as they casually sliced through a horde of undead Dwarves to yet another monster spawner.

"No, it's not okay. You're hiding something from Simon and me, and you need to tell us what's going on now."

"In case you haven't noticed, Knight_Peculier and Spacker need help, King_Finbar probably knows we're here by now, and everywhere I turn there are skeletons and zombies. So now really isn't a good time to sit around and chit-chat!"

"Beer! I found beer!"

The two heroes turned away from their argument to see Honeydew digging through a frost-covered chest and reveal several mugs of ice cold grog. "That'll be enough fer now." Moira suggested, "Just need yer key."

"Thank God," Annahvi sighed as she joined Honeydew and grabbed a few mugs, "Let's just grab some and get out of here!"

And without another word, the Elf quickly scurried up the stairs and out of the storage room.

The rest of their scavenger appeared to follow the same pattern. Moira and Honeydew would go one way, leaving Annahvi and Xephos to go the other. He would try to ask her what happened, and she would always reply with "I'll explain later." By the time they had found enough lava, retraced their steps, and made their way back to the village, she had to say it ten times.

"Honeydew!" Knight_Peculier called out through one of the windows of the Inn, "Up here!"

It was only after her friend and Moira entered the inn that Annahvi sighed in relief and slowly lowered herself to the floor and cobblestone walls.

"Dammit, Lewis." she blew a lock of unruly hair out of her face, only to have it float back down in front of her. Isis joined her on the floor, and Annahvi couldn't help be glare at her. "What?"

_"Are you really going to tell him?"_

"I would if he'd just shut up for a second. It's not like I _like_ lying to them."

Isis nodded her head before staring off into space, her face scrunched up in confusion. _"I supposed we don't have a choice do we? Besides, I think they'll understand."_

"I'm not so sure about that," Annahvi scoffed, "Lewis is being a total bitch about this. He and Simon are always quick to make assumptions; they'd probably think I'm part of Israphel's Cult."

Her shadow flinched back in shock before her expression became one of knowing apathy. _"You don't mean that."_

Annahvi tried to shoot Isis the darkest, coldest glare she could, but she just sighed in frustration and rested her head against the wall. "No. But... They're going to be mad at me for lying to them - especially Lewis."

_"Well he's mad at you right now, so it won't make much of a difference."_

"That's a bit below the belt," Annahvi said with a smirk, and Isis just laughed. However their conversation was cut short when they saw Xephos walking out of the Inn and to the edge of the lava moat. They watched him take a vinyl record in his hands and throw it in the moat where it quickly melted.

"I like that song..." Knight_Peculier said from above, and Annahvi couldn't help but laugh when Xephos replied with "Shut up, Knight_Peculier."

The Space Man turned around, having heard her laugh, and smiled softly at her. "C'mon," he said, "Moira's made the key." Annahvi nodded her head, got to her feet, and followed Xephos inside the Inn.

"Here ye go," Moira said as they all reached upstairs, "Take it."

She threw something on the ground and when Honeydew picked it up, they saw it was an arrow.

"This is the key?"

"It looks like an arrow, guys..."

The three turned to each other with complete confusion.

"I got it," Knight_Peculier explained as he handed it to Honeydew. Xephos and Annahvi couldn't help but laugh at their stupidity before examining the key. "I'm surprised you didn't make on yourself." he added.

"Well I didn't realized it was just gonna be a lever!" Honeydew defended, "Ya know? I thought it was gonna be something special! Oh goodness sake."

"So what now?" Xephos asked, "Um... are we heading off to.. the Deepcore."

"We must go to the Deepcore that Spacker told me about," Knight_Peculier explained. Honeydew nodded in agreement, "To the Deepcore!"

"Aye," Spacker spoke up, "Moira and I must stay here, to burn the bodies and wait for other Dwarves to return. I wish ye the very best!"

"Be safe, heroes." Moira warned. "Farewell Dwarves!" Xephos said with a nod, and Annahvi smiled reassuringly. "Farewell, Honeydew." Moira called out from the window, "May our paths cross again."

"Let us go, Heroes!" Knight_Peculier said to the Elf and Space Man, "Time is of the the essence!"

Honeydew gave one last glance to Moira before the four of them were off. As they left the village and made their way to the Deepcore, Annahvi reached out and took Xephos' sleeve.

"Annahvi?" he looked to her in confusion, but she simply looked to him with an almost unsettling determination.

"I'll tell you everything I know once we're out of Stoneholm - I promise. But you have to promise me something in return."

"What?"

"Promise me... You won't stay mad a me."

A sense of fear and concern came over Xephos as she looked him straight in the eye, but he weakly smiled and nodded his head.

"I promise."


	39. Chapter 33

"Hurry, Heroes!" Knight_Peculier commanded as they began climbing down a long spiral staircase.

"We gotta go to the Deepcore, haven't we?" Honeydew asked, "The Deepcore! Is that right? Have we been there?"

"Yes," Xephos confirmed once they reached the bottom of the stairs to an enormous gap that spanned across the middle of the room, "I think that's where we're going."

"This is where the key goes," Knight_Peculier motioned to a small indent in the wall, perfect for a mechanical lever.

"Do you have the lever?"

"Of course I do!" Honeydew replied, a little too quickly, "Of course I have... Of course I have..." His hands fumbled around nervously, but after a minute or two he successfully managed to plant the lever on the wall and activate the mechanisms beyond the wall.

"Great start," Xephos smirked sarcastically, pulling the lever down and activating a set of stairs on each side of the wall.

"Just don't ask how I lost it in the last sixty seconds!" Honeydew replied as they headed down the stairs, "It's just one of those things, okay?"

Despite the massive pool of lava behind them, the four could barely see beyond a foot before the world was enveloped in darkness, giving Xephos a good opportunity to place down a torch. To their surprise, the end of the room was less than a meter away from them; a wooden door in the middle of the wall with one sign on either side, and a chest to the left of them.

"Pickaxe required for entry..." Xephos read, "Iron hats optional." He turned to the chest beside Knight_Peculier and, as the signs suggested, found several iron picks and four iron helms. "Get yourself... Get yourself an iron hat and a pick if you need one." he instructed, pulling out one of the slightly rusted helmets, "Pickaxes are required, not iron hats are required."

"Does it make me look... Does it make my head look fat?" Honeydew asked, facing Xephos with an iron helmet over his head.

"Only slightly fat," his friend humored, "Yeah, you'll be fine."

"I fear we'll need to spare our used of torches, as it will be long and dark," Knight_Peculier suggested. Annahvi turned to Xephos with a smirk while lowering a helmet over her head, "Do you think you'll be able to handle that, Lewis?"

"Shut up," Xephos chuckled, knocking his fist against her helmet and rattling her eardrums. Her hands flew up to steady the vibrating helmet and she glared at her friend through the visor. But he just smiled, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"Does my big, beautiful, Dwarven head look big in this?"

"No bigger than it already is," Annahvi chuckled when she saw Xephos instantly place a torch on the opposite wall. He turned to them, but almost instantly his attention was diverted to a large chest buried under dirt and stone.

"There's treasure there!" he said, walking over to the hidden chests, "There's treasure! Um..."

He took out an iron pickaxe and began to chip away at some of the stone in front of the chest, but once he did so a large silverfish emerged from the broken rocks and crawled straight for Honeydew.

Instantly the four of them began to panic and attack the single silverfish, but doing so angered a few more and soon one became three, and three became five. The four heroes hurried out of the room and hurried up the cobblestone stairs with the silverfish trailing right behind them.

"Quick!" Xephos yelled to his friends, who were still climbing up the stairs, "Knight_Peculier, come up here! I'm going to drop them into the lava!" And so once all of his friends were safely with him on the other side, Xephos turned and pulled the lever up, causing the two staircases to disappear back into the wall. However one silverfish was able to make its way up the stairs and towards the heroes before the stairs were removed.

Honeydew, being the Dwarf that he is, screamed in horror and quickly fled into the nearest hallway and away from the silverfish, leaving Xephos, Annahvi, and Knight_Peculier to deal with the matter. Once it was dead, the four of them recollected their thoughts and looked back to the other side of the room.

"I wasn't quick enough," Xephos laughed at himself, "I think a few of them went in the lava, though. Ugh. Are we safe? They do like to re-spawn quite regularly, those things. Sometimes they just get out of control."

"A trap!" Knight_Peculier said in realization.

_"Was_ it a trap?" Honeydew asked, activating the staircases as he did so, "Was it a trap to catch us out? Thinking there was real treasure? Oh! That's... That's really mean!"

"It _is_ mean, isn't it?" Xephos agreed as they reentered the room and searched the free chest. "What's in here?"

"A load of old crap!" Honeydew practically yelled in disbelief as the four of them saw a few pieces of iron, gold, coal, and flint. His friends were in utter disbelief as well, though the Space Man seemed more amused than angry. "Is there another one over here?" he asked as he motioned to a large mound of dirt and stone, "Careful, I don't really want-"

"I'm sure the other one's fine!" Knight_Peculier reassured, through the others were not as certain.

"I'm sure the other one isn't fine, Knight_Peculier." the three heroes couldn't help but laugh nervously as they watched their friend begin to destroy the dirt and stone around the second chest. As expected, a silverfish crawled out from the remains of its destroyed home and began to make its way to Knight_Peculier, but he made short work of the monster.

Taking the opportunity, Honeydew ran to the chest, expecting more useless materials. "Oh diamonds!"

"What?!" Xephos pushed his friend to the side and searched the chest, just barely able to see Honeydew grab a good cluster of precious stones and shoving them into his pockets. "How many were in there?!"

"Um... the- one." Of course, Xephos knew that he was lying trough his teeth, but the Space Man ignored this and continued through the depths of the mines. "There was one and I. Oh my God! I _hate_ these things so much!"

He laughed at his friend's outburst and turned around. "Are you having trouble with- OH NO!" He expecting to see a few silverfish - three or four at most - so one can only imagine his horror and disgust when he saw an entire swarm of silverfish chasing his friends.

"OH FUCK!" Honeydew yelled as more and more silverfish made their way towards him, "WHAT THE HELL?! NO!"

"This way!" Xephos yelled, running through the somewhat destroyed entrance and up the cobblestone stairs yet again. The four panicked and screamed as they shoved their way past the door and back up the stairs, this time successfully destroying any silverfish before they reached the other side of the room. They sighed in relief as the silverfish hissed and descended into the white-hot magma below.

"Maybe it wasn't..." Knight_Peculier said after a moment. Annahvi looked at him with absolute hatred as she slapped her hand against his metal helmet; _hard_. "I'm going to choke you."

"You don't like silverfish do you?" Xephos chuckled.

"No, I bloody love them!" her voice was dripping with pure sarcasm and resentment, but Honeydew just smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"There's one on your back."

As a result, Annahvi screamed as high a pitch as she could and smashed her back, and Honeydew, against the nearby wall. Xephos couldn't help but laugh as he watched his Dwarven friend tried to stop the Elf from smothering him to death.

Once they had all calmed down, and once Annahvi had given Honeydew a good slap to the face, they reactivated the stairs and climbed back down to the mine, careful not to disturb any of the rocks.

"Let's try to make some progress into this mine..." Xephos said as he grabbed a handful of torches. They walked along a set of aged mine cart tracks, following as it twisted around and descended into the mine. The Space Man's eyes followed the tracks as it turned around a massive cobblestone pillar and disappeared out of right. "Should we be riding a mine cart into the- Oh, probably not. It's probably not a good idea."

"Really?"

"Into the dark deep cave of the Deepcore?" Xephos added.

"Yeah... You might have a point."

"Actually, this doesn't very deep. Is this the Deepcore, this bit? It's like an old mining- abandoned mine... shaft?" His voice trailed off into a question as they reached, what appeared to be a dead end. The cart tracks came to an abrupt end against a small wall of wooden planks beside a wooden pillar.

Adjacent to the tracks was a single lever and a trail of redstone dust that disappeared into darkness, but as Xephos approached closer and placed down a torch, he realized the redstone dust was wired up to a crate of TNT, and the remains of the cave was encrusted with diamonds and gold. Of course, the moment Honeydew saw the crate of dynamite, an almost sinister gleam began to form in his eyes.

"Oh my God..."

"Ah!" Knight_Peculier shouted in realization, "This must be the diamond mine Spacker told me about!"

"Go on," Xephos humored to the Dwarf, "Do the honors."

With his friend's consent, Honeydew grabbed the lever and pulled back. The trail of dust glowed bright red for a moment and the four could hear a faint hissing sound as the fuse on the crate was lit. Within seconds, a loud explosion ruptured through the mine.

Once all of the rubble had settled, Honeydew approached the newly formed crater and replaced the destroyed torch with a new one. Suddenly he could see hundreds of diamonds sparking against the torch light, causing the Dwarf to pause in amazement. "Oh my God! It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

His friends joined him at the edge of the crater and were equally impressed with the massive quantity of diamonds.

"We should make some tools!" Knight_Peculier suggested as the other two men lowered themselves into the crater. Xephos ventured into a small pocket that was revealed in the explosion, and couldn't believe the massive quantity of raw uncut diamonds. "Oh my goodness! There's diamonds everywhere! This is amazing! Well surely we just want armor, don't we?"

"Tools and armor!" Knight_Peculier specified, "We shall need it to forge ahead."

"So I risked our lives getting that chest with the diamonds - just six diamonds - and now there's, like, a whole mine's worth here!" Honeydew groaned in a mix of disbelief and irritation.

"Six diamonds is still quite a lot," Xephos noted as they continued to mine out the stone around them.

By the time they had finished mining, there were enough diamonds for the three of them to make their own individual sets or armor. Xephos could hear Annahvi mutter something about not needing armor as she began crafting a pair of diamond boots.

"That should keep you safe," Knight_Peculier noted when he saw Xephos with a newly-crafted diamond sword, though he seemed a bit uncomfortable with just an iron helmet, "I feel a bit... unprotected."

"You'll be fine!" Honeydew laughed as they ventured through the mines, but as they followed the winding passage, they were greeted with a very strange sight. The once narrow tunnel had been transformed into a massive long tube. The walls and floor seemed to disappear into the darkness, only to be brought back into view by the faint light of several torches attached to a gargantuan statue on the other side of the cavern.

"What is this area?" Xephos asked as he placed down a torch, but as they slowly approached the end of the tunnel, they realized the stone statue was actually a metal machine.

"What's this down here?" Honeydew asked, "It's huge!"

"It's like a... uh... It's like a metal flaming thing-y."

"You don't say?" the Dwarf laughed, "A metal flaming thing-y."

"This must be the machines Spacker spoke of." Knight_Peculier spoke up as they reached the mechanical monstrosity "They could bore through bedrock itself."

They encircled the machine, partially out of curiosity and partially out of fear.

"Is it like a drilling machine?" Xephos asked as they reached the front of the machine and instantly saw the spiraled tip, "Oh yeah! Look, it's like a drill! What has it been drilling into?"

While Xephos was busy exploring the rest of the caves, Honeydew, Annahvi, and Knight_Peculier were still awestruck by the size of the drill. Even on the balls of her feet, Annahvi couldn't reach the top of the wheels.

"Wow," Honeydew sighed, "It's beautiful! It's a fine Dwarven engineering!"

"It is, isn't it? How does it work?"

The three heroes made their way to the other side of the machine in hopes of finding an entrance, but no such luck. They were hoping to find an end of the tunnel, but apparently the drill had not reached that far. So instead the two of them began to wander around the

"The entrance to the Deepcore is here somewhere," Knight_Peculier explained, and no sooner than he said that, Xephos stumbled upon a decent size hole leading deeper into the earth.

"Ah! It must be this then!" With with that, they lowered themselves into the hole, with Honeydew leading the way forward through a winding tunnel.

"My God, how far does this go down?" Xephos asked to no one in particular, "It feels like we've just been going down, and down, and down! We must be near to, like, bedrock level here." He looked behind him to see Annahvi following closely, and suddenly his brow furrowed; she was trapped in her own thoughts once again.

What was she hiding from them, and more importantly _why_? Did she not trust them enough? Did she stay quiet for their own safety? If Skylord_Lysander was aware of her secret, then it couldn't be anything too dangerous, right?

"Oh my God," Honeydew interrupted, "It's _very_ dark!"

Xephos and Annahvi watched in confusion as he cautiously continued onwards, and into the most extraordinary sight.

The first thing the four of them noticed was that the tunnel opened up into an enormous room, assuming that there were walls hidden beyond the darkness. The elevated floor as well as the main floor below them was made out of solid iron, and a few meters away they could see a set of stairs leading down to a strange little fenced off area, only visible due to several torches riveted to the top of the wooden fences.

"Oh my God!" Xephos looked up and could faintly see a large stone tower in the distance, though it quickly vanished in the pitch black as well. "What the hell is this?" He placed a torch down, but it did little to illuminate the massive chamber.

"I can't see anything!" he turned to the fences and stairs, "What's this over here?"

"There's a lot of iron," Honeydew said softly, before looking up to meet the eyes of an undead Dwarf. "Oh! OH! There's a Dwarf!"

It lumbered towards him, but quickly stumble past the raised platform and onto the floor below.

"Spacker told me this mine was abandoned after the Wall went up." Knight_Peculier informed the three as they quickly killed off the zombie and headed down the stairs to the small little safety zone.

While her friends made their way to the center of the room, Annahvi stood on the very edge of the raised platform and stared out into the darkness, as if hoping that it would slowly reveal itself.

_"There's something unsettling about this place..." _Isis muttered softly, and Annahvi had no choice but to agree. It was so empty and spacious, but the Elf felt completely suffocated by the darkness, as if there were monsters lurking just beyond her vision. Bombarded with confusion and fear, Annahvi quickly rejoined her friends.

Xephos stood atop a waist-high wall of iron and tried to catch sight of the other end of the room, but there was nothing save for a few flames of a monster spawner. "Oh my God," he groaned, "How do we even make our way start- there's a button on here, did you see that?" He pointed to an almost invisible stone button beside the wall, "There's a button on here- on this iron." However, the Dwarf was too preoccupied with a chest beside him to hear what his friend had to say.

"Oh my God!" he shouted randomly, "Look in the chest!"

Annahvi and Xephos looked at each other in confusion, but with a shrug the Space Man cautiously opened the chest."Oh my God, a legendary piece of bedrock."

Once the two overcame their initial shock, they closed the chest and turned to the matter at hand - finding their way through a massive room of nothingness. "A button," Knight_Peculier spoke up, "Perhaps we should try it."

"I'm sure this button... I'm sure pressing this button can't be any worse than we're- than this situation already. Do you want to do the honors, Simon?"

"Oh my God, okay..."

He nervously pushed on the stone button, and instantly the iron wall Xephos was standing on disappeared into the ground. Annahvi raised a brow skeptically before turning to her friends.

"Was that it?" she asked, but she was soon answered with the sound of painful moaning. She turned around and was greeted with the sight of yet another undead Dwarf slowly meandering its way to them.

"Okay, it summoned a Dwarf..." Xephos said as he grabbed his bow and drew an arrow back, but his attention was diverted to the sight of a column of glowstone slowly rising to the surface. "What the heck? The lights are coming on."

"Light!" Honeydew repeated excitedly as more and more zombies began to emerge from the darkness.

"My God, are we supposed to go now and, like, follow the light?"

"I supposed it beats staying here," Annahvi shrugged as they quickly hurried into the darkness.

"The machine awakens!" Knight_Peculier yelled in realization.

They ran through the darkness, jumping from glowstone to glowstone. Zombies, skeletons, Creepers, and spiders leapt into the fray of fighting and chaos, though the four of them simply shoved the monsters away and continued running. Finally they reached what could only be described as a runway, and began to sprint down the middle of the path.

"Oh my God!" Honeydew yelled, causing Xephos to turn in confusion. He instantly regretted that decision.

Following behind the four heroes were a swarm of enemies of all likenesses. Honeydew simply yelled "Don't stop!" over and over again until they reached a flight of stairs and quickly disappeared into another strange machine.

"Take cover in this machine!" Xephos yelled from the top of the stairs, watching from the windows as monsters continued to chase his friends. He could see monsters slowly approaching the machine, but he was relieved to see that everyone had made it inside safe and sound.

"This must be the legendary bedrock mine of Stoneholm." Knight_Peculier noted, "Some say that only a Dwarf had the knowledge to mine it."

Annahvi looked to Honeydew and then to the monsters out the window.

"So we're fucked."

"I wouldn't say that," Xephos laughed.

"Nobody knows why the Dwarves stopped gathering it." the knight added, "It is worth a large fortune. If you are ready, we should continue."

With a nod of agreement amongst the three heroes, they hurried down stairs, out of the machine.

"Does Knight_Peculier have any idea where we're going?" Xephos asked as he placed down another torch right in front of a pair of massive boots. His eyes widened in shock and fear, but he slowly followed the enormous leather boots up a set of greenish legs, and soon he was staring down an undead Giant. It looked down at him with bloodshot eyes and groaned in agony, and before Xephos knew it, slowly lumbered towards the heroes.

"In Notches name!" Knight_Peculier screamed.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Honeydew yelled as he stumbled away from the monster.

"It's a Giant," Xephos explained, "Just don't alert it to our presence - just relax."

The four scrambled to hide beneath the Dwarven machine, and to their relief the Giant was too graceless to grab them from under the massive machine.

"The way lies beyond it!" Knight_Peculier explained to his friends as they looked to each other nervously.

"Just run past it!" Xephos instructed, and they did exactly that.

They quickly scurried past the Giant and hurried into the veil of darkness. Annahvi could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her legs gained a mind of their own. And yet she found something enjoyable about the chase as she flung enemies out of her path and into one another where they collided with the ground. The Elf almost laughed as she struggled to keep running. She had didn't even think of Xephos, Honeydew, or Knight_Peculier; all that mattered was surviving.

But soon she reached the end of the tunnel and the adrenaline coursing through her veins slowly disappeared into a numbness. She practically collapsed then and there, were it not for the dirt wall right in front of her. As she recollected her thoughts, she watched her friends from the corner of her eye. Xephos placed a torch into the ground, thus revealing a large sandstone temple.

"What is this? Sandstone so deep?"

"Oh God, okay. What's this here?" Xephos rambled as they descended into the temple. Annahvi stumbled as she followed her friends down into the darkness, still smiling like a lunatic.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Knight_Peculier was the first to speak up. "I have never seen anything like this..."

And neither had the heroes.

The room at the bottom of the stairs could be better described as some sort of lobby or underground platform. A small sandstone platform stretched from one side of the room to the other, but the remaining floor also served as a glass ceiling for a set of mine cart tracks below. Near the center of the room was a small set of tracks the most likely lead to the ones below, and beside the tracks was a chest.

"Is this what they found? Ancient ruins?"

Annahvi turned to see what Knight_Peculier was referring too, and was surprised to see the walls littered with hieroglyphs depicting various images and symbols. A few of them Annahvi recognized from her book, but many of them were unknown to her.

_"I don't believe this..." _Isis slowly made her way to the wall and ran her fingers over the grooves, _"I can't believe... you found this. Can you just imagine?" _She turned to Annahvi with newfound energy,_ "These are more than just ruins! They're stories! Tales that have yet to be discovered! Quick! We've got to document them!"_

The Elf watched in confusion as her shadow followed the ruins across the wall. She had never seen Isis so excited by anything before. However, she found a piece of charcoal in her inventory and began sketching out the ruins as fast as she could.

"We have come this far," Knight_Peculier said, "we must continue! Heroes, grab a cart!"

"C'mon Annahvi!" Honeydew yelled, "We've got to get going to the Deepcore!"

"J-Just a second!" she called back nervously "Will these be enough notes?" She showed Isis the rushed drawings, though she seemed far from impressed.

_"But there are so many more that we need to copy!"_

"Isis, we _really_ don't have time for this!"

"Annahvi!" Xephos called out, "We've got to get going now!"

"Coming!" The Elf shoved the notes into the book and closed it before placing it back in her cloak; Isis begrudgingly followed behind as she grabbed a mine cart and followed behind Xephos and placed her mine cart down on the tracks and reluctantly stepped inside. With a bit of a push, she edged onto the magnetized tracks and was rocketed forward. She couldn't help but laugh when she felt Isis wrap her arms around her waist as they were propelled forward.

"How are you holding up, back there?!" She heard Xephos yell from ahead.

"This is so much fun!" she laughed.

"Hey, who were you talking to before?"

"I'll explain everything once the we stop, okay?" She paused and waited for his response.

"Fine! But you owe me a damn good explanation!"

Suddenly Annahvi heard the terrified screams of Xephos and Isis. She looked ahead and was just barely able to catch a glimpse of a piston before it disappeared, revealing a massive pool of lava. As she cross over the tracks and neared the lava, her cart was launched into the air. She half-screamed, half-laughed as her cart landed on the other side of the room and onto the tracks safely.

"I'm too old for this!" Knight_Peculier yelled from behind, but the three heroes just laughed. Soon they were riding back into the daylight and through a forest, but their joy didn't last very long. As they turned a corner, the heroes were greeted with the strangest sight imaginable.

A strange vortex of light and color sprouted out from the ground and spiraled up into the sky where is dissipated as a thick cloud of pure light. The four were so mesmerized by the sight, they barely had time to register the raging fireball headed towards them until it was too late.

The next things Annahvi knew, she was flung forward with the accompaniment of a massive explosion and her mine cart was ripped from the tracks. She tumbled to the ground, head spinning and ears ringing. Once she finally came to her senses, the first thing she heard was Xephos and Honeydew screaming.


	40. Chapter 34

_"Annahvi?"_ Isis looked down at her Elven friend in concern, _"Annahvi? Can you hear me? Can you move?"_

The Elf groaned a string of unintelligible curses as Isis helped to push the mine cart off of her exhausted body and shakily rose to her feet. Her mind was still terribly hazy when she saw Knight_Peculier assisting Xephos and Honeydew from their compacted mine carts as fire continued to rain down from above, but she was able to catch up to speed within a few seconds. She looked up to see King_Finbar climbing up what could be described as a spiraling staircase.

Soon the four of them were scrambling around in an attempt to avoid King_Finbar's attacks. Fires and explosions surrounded them left and right as the heroes were plunged into pure chaos. Annahvi was trying to find a way to attack the King, Honeydew was frantically firing arrows, and Xephos was desperately trying to extinguish the fire burning through his pant leg. The four struggled to find any way to attack back at the corrupted Dwarf, but strangely enough, the offense only lasted ended as quickly as it begun. The commotion quickly died down, leaving four extremely overwhelmed heroes.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." Knight_Peculier groaned as Honeydew helped Xephos out of the water from a nearby mellon farm.

"Where's he gone?" Honeydew asked they looked up to the strange blue and white spiral. "I don't know," Xephos answered, "Where the hell are we, anyway? We just , like, came out of the ground and there's this weird thing here."

"Is this a rift?"

"A rift? I don't know... I don't think so. This looks like a man-made object of some description."

"This must be the machine that the Dwarves used to reinforce the Wall." Knight_Peculier explained to his bewildered friends, though they had little time to ponder the thought once Xephos noted the entrance to a metal lift right in front of him.

"There's a service elevator here," he said aloud. He and Honeydew made quick work of the cobwebs that surrounded the doors, and three adventurers reluctantly stepped forward.

Suddenly, the metal doors were pulled apart and revealed a small, well-lit room. However the doors moved so suddenly, Honeydew flinched back in fear and the doors were sealed closed once more. He ran behind Annahvi, who just looked at her Dwarven friend in confusion. While the smallest of the three was spouting out a string of unfinished words, Xephos walked forward until he stood on top of a stone pressure plate and opened the doors.

"Oh right," Honeydew sighed, "They're pressure plates." He laughed nervously as all four heroes shuffled into the cramp little room and Xephos pushed the button on the wall. Rusted gears and aged metal groaned in protest as the lift began to descend, but its movements came to an abrupt stop and began to climb back up. Once the lift had come to a complete stop, the four heroes looked amongst each other in confusion.

"Okay," Xephos began, "Are we there?"

"I don't know." Honeydew answered, "How do we get out?"

Xephos tried the button again, but it merely caused the lift to repeat the same movements.

"Dwarf, if you will..." Knight_Peculier suggested, "the doors."

Even though the request was directed to Honeydew, it was Xephos who began to break down the iron walls surrounding them.

"This is obviously broken," he said as he squeezed out of the elevator, "It _does_ say it's out of order. We should have read that probably..." Honeydew and Annahvi turned to the sign beside the lift: 'SERVICE ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER!'

"Oh. Yeah... So we... That..." Honeydew couldn't help but laugh has he struggled to form a complete sentence, "We're really stupid aren't we? We got into a lift that said 'Out of Order' and were like, 'What the hell?! Why isn't it working?!'"

Whilst the three were laughing amongst themselves, they had wandered around the corner of the stone wall and was surprised with what they found. The first thing they noticed was a trail of fire that lead directly to a massive gap in the middle of the wall. The ground near the fire was intermixed with soul sand and any nearby trees had lost their leaved and branches, leaving ember-tipped bodies.

"Oh my god, are these burnt..."

"Trees?" Xephos completed his friend's sentence as he noticed a strange building illuminated through the night, "What the hell is that thing over there?"

"Oh dear," Knight_Peculier said as he examined the damage, "it looks like the Dwarves have attacked it."

Xephos began to head towards the strange figure, but paused and turned back to his friends. "I'm getting distracted," he sighed, "Which way should we go? Should we go inside? It looks like they've blown a hole in the side of this place."

As the four of them entered through the damaged wall, Annahvi noticed a large sphere of obsidian that surrounded the cobblestone debris. She followed its path back to the strange object in the distance; a cannon of some description?

"What kind of power is this..." Knight_Peculier asked to no one in particular, "I have never seen it before." However, his questions were answered once Xephos placed down the first torch. On the wall in front of the Space Man, he saw an enormous plaque riveted to the wall aged and faded but still readable. "There's a message here on the wall! From Verigan!" he alerted his friends and they instantly gathered around him.

"Verigan!?" Knight_Peculier failed to suppress a gasp as Honeydew read the text aloud.

_"To those that find this: I, Verigan, have made hard decisions to protect this world. This is one of them. To defend this land from a terrible evil, this machine has been activated. The machine that awoke the Sand God in the first place. Now, through the Wall, it keeps him chained. If it should fail again, the world is surely doomed. This facility is hidden from view. The only way in is beneath the Deepcore, which will be sealed forever. But if you are reading this, then something has gone wrong. If the world is not yet burning, it is only a matter of time. But there is a glimmer of hope and if you are pure of heart, then maybe you can do what I could not. You must take this map and unite it with the others, then seek out the evil at it source. _

_Good luck - Verigan."_

At the end of a the plaque was a solitary chest. The four already knew what contents remained stored inside, but still, the moment Honeydew opened the chest his eye shone brightly and he pulled out a faded piece of paper.

"Is that what I think it is?" Knight_Peculier asked, barely above a whisper, "It is... but this message from Verigan is bad news."

"This _is_ bad news..." Xephos grumbled to himself as he wandered around the facility while the Knight examined the map fragment, "So what's the deal? This thing was built to keep the sand back- to power up the wall. But... What's happened to it? Is it, like, broken?"

"It's a bit like a prison or something," Honeydew noted, "A machine, a device."

"We should return to Adaephon," Knight_Peculier suggested a he stored away the map piece, "But I do not know where we are."

"So what was Israphel doing with this, then? Was his minions trying to free the monster in the desert?"

"I think they want to see the world burn," Honeydew answered vaguely as they entered a small control room, "Is there a lever, a button?"

"Well it says here 'Redstone Transformer' blah blah blah... 'Ensure torch is lit at ALL TIMES'. There's no torch there. So do you have a redstone torch?"

"Oh... No."

"Well neither do I. So how do we get a redstone torch?"

"Perhaps we can find additional power in that tank of Finbar's," their Knighted friend suggested.

"Hm... I thought it was a cannon," Annahvi said, mostly to Isis and herself. She remained silent as they succeeded in reaching the tank safely, placing down a few torches every now, and watched as her friends disappeared into the machine. She looked back up to the spire. Now that it was night, the glowstone within the light and dark blues shone brighter than ever,

_"I don't think 'spire' is the best word to describe it,"_ Isis thought aloud. Annahvi turned to her in confusion and she moved away from the tank and joined her shadow in the moonlight. "Sorry, what are you talking about?"

_"That spiral thing,"_ she explained,_ "It's not a spire. Spires are those pointed rooftops you see on churches and cathedrals."_

"What would you call it then?" Annahvi asked, partially joking. She starred back up at the strange structure in curiosity as her mind began to wander. The past few days' events had taken a toll on her both mentally and physically.

_"A tower."_ Isis answered with a shrug.

"A tower... huh..." they sat side-by-side as they stared up at the tower.

_"Can I see those sketches you made?"_

"Huh? Oh, sure." She reached into her faded rucksack and placed all of the sketches on the ground for her shadow of examine. As she watched Isis' enthusiasm, Annahvi couldn't help but grow curious. "So... Were you some sort of archeologist or professor?"

_"I think so."_

"You _think_ so?"

_"I don't remember much about my life; I've been alive for over a millennium now. I think I was some sort of scientist or documenter. I remember sailing and exploring ruin, but I honestly can't recall anything about my family or personality."_

"Oh..." Annahvi couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as Isis explained this to her. She didn't meant to touch on such a sensitive subject. But Isis just turned to her and smiled. _"It's alright. It's nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff."_

"Ah, we have power!" Knight_Peculier called out, "We must repair the generator!" When the three men re-emerged from the tank, Annahvi instantly took note of the redstone torch that was in Xephos' hand. They began to head back to the tower, but Xephos paused about half way and turned to the setting moon.

"Is that wall over there?" he asked, walking towards the setting moon, "All the way over there. Can you see, behind the moon?"

Technically, Xephos meant to say 'In front of the moon', but Xephos and Honeydew were able to understand what he meant. As the moon began to disappear in the horizon, they were able to make out the defining features of a large stone wall and a watch tower in the distance. "That's beautiful" Honeydew said in amazement while Annahvi simply smiled.

"And the sun is rising on the other side," the Space Man continued.

"So it's dawn?" Honeydew smiled as they re-entered the breached facility, "Ah, it's a beautiful day to safe the world!"

"It is, isn't it?"

Annahvi smiled as she watched them disappear into the control room. Within seconds there was the sound of electrical humming and soon the whole facility was alive once more. All four of them gathered at the side of the control room and watched in satisfaction as they saw millions of redstone repeaters light up, forming an undulating patter of lights. As they stood back from the window, Knight_Peculier noticed a sign beside the door to the control room. 'Anomaly detected on spire.'

"Anomaly on spire... What is this?" the four of them looked up at the tower in confusion.

"The anomaly, Knight_Peculier. It must be the portal." Honeydew answered.

"Do we go up?" Xephos asked, "Do we climb?"

"This must be the reason that the generator failed! We _must _climb! The power should be stable enough to climb."

While the Space Man and Dwarf were ready to being the ascent to the top of the tower, the Elf appeared to be somewhat more reluctant.

"Are you sure this is safe?" she asked, testing the spirals, "It _does_ look like it's a long way up."

When he heard this, Honeydew couldn't help but give and exaggerated groan and push Annahvi forward, "C'mon! Don't be such a coward!"

"Alright, alright! I'm going!" she sighed and began to climb upwards.

While the climb was just as high as she imagined, it was thankfully not as long. They were able to reach the portal in less than a minute, though Knight_Peculier seemed less than pleased to see the 'anomaly' on the spire.

"A portal?" his eyes lit up and he gripped his iron sword, "Daisy! I'm coming!"

And with that, the four of them leapt through the portal and into the Nether. The transportation was practically instantaneous. When Annahvi opened her eyes again she saw the Dwarven King standing in front of a large array of computer monitors.

"You are too late!" he cackled as they stepped down from the portal, "Our Dark Master is awakened once again!"

"No!" Knight_Peculier yelled, though his determination began to waver, "It cannot be... What have you done? No! Where is my Father! My Mother? Where is Daisy!?"

Knight_Peculier charged at the Dwarf, but King_Finbar merely smiled as he heard the anxiety in the Knight's voice, "Soon! Soon our dark god will climb free from the sands. And this world will fall into shadow!"

He then turned to Xephos with an evil smile as a small ball of fire erupted from his hand and was launched directly at the Space Man. Though Xephos was still slightly burned from the fire, he was able to avoid being severely injured, though the relief was short-lived. In the midst of the chaos, he accidentally misstepped and began to fall into deep pit. He looked down to see the bright orange of lava as panic overcame his thoughts; for all he knew, it was and instant drop into death. Thankfully, a hand managed to grab his and within seconds Annahvi had pulled him back to safety.

"You alright?" she sighed softly.

"Yeah..." he said, steadying his uneven breath and pounding heart, "Thanks..."

"WHERE IS DAISY!" Knight_Peculier screamed at the top of his lungs, his face red with pure rage. The King only smiled wickedly.

"That tasty morsel will make a fitting meal for our God."

Within seconds Knight_Peculier had charged at the King_Finbar and impaled the Dwarf with his sword. He died instantly. All three of his fellow heroes flinched in shock at the man's actions. He turned to them as the body and blood vanished forever.

"We are too late..." he sighed, "It is done... The evil that my father and grandfather died to seal away is now free again... I have failed."

"It's not too late!" Xephos said, though the encouraging words appeared to have little affect on his friend. He looked around the room with a defeated gaze, but then he noticed a nearby sign. 'Time Until Full Operation == 3 Days 7 Hours =='.

"Wait... Three days... Enough to cross half the world! Enough to seal away an ancient god? With nothing but a sword and this accursed broken map? I hold my Father's sword..." He turned to his friends as hope began to shine brilliantly in his eyes, "He gave his life to this, I cannot give up, you are right, Heroes! This place, these corridors, there must be other portals. Maybe there will be one that will take us somewhere I recognize! Three days..." He made his way to the massive pit that Xephos had almost fallen down. He then turned to his friends, "What are you waiting for?"

They began to climb down a pair of ladders attached to one side of the pit and slowly began to descend down to whatever horrors awaited them down below.

"We're going to save the world!" Honeydew declared, "And, more importantly, we're going to finally save Daisy!"

Xephos and Annahvi smiled with determination as they reached the bottom of the ladders.

"Let's do this!"


	41. Chapter 35

"Let's do this!"

"C'mon, you two!" Honeydew yelled to his friends above, "C'mon! We've got to get through this horrible Nether-y place wherever this is..."

And yet as the Dwarf reached the bottom of the ladders and began to follow Knight_Peculier down the corridor, he paused for a brief moment and turned to stare out the glass wall behind him.

"There's a giant iron... There's a giant iron block down there!" he blurted out before muttering softly under his breath, "I wonder if I can mine that..."

Xephos and Annahvi looked to each other in confusion as they reached the glass floor where their fellow adventurers awaited them. The moment the former of the two was able to safely release his grip on the rungs, he looked out the window.

"Where's a giant iron-"

"LOOK, WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" the Dwarf interrupted, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Despite this, Annahvi and Xephos were curiously transfixed on a massive silhouetted cube placed directly above a massive body of lava. Once the two confirmed that it was indeed a cube, they turned to continue down the corridor, only to see that Knight_Peculier had stopped in front of a nearby room.

"This place," he began, "this world beyond... It's not what I expected."

"Well it's not what _any_ of us expected," Xephos added as they entered what could only be described as an observation room. The remaining three rooms each had a massive window that overlooked the hostile terrain that was the Nether. On the wall to his left, the Space man was able to read a metal sign that hung beside the enormous window: 'Left: Lakeside Portal'.

"This is a viewing room..." he muttered in realization, "Well I mean, we thought that Israphel was using this place as a way to transport stuff around, so maybe this 'Lakeside Portal' here, maybe this is like... maybe that's one of the other portal rooms? I don't know..."

Annahvi merely shrugged as she gazed out the windows, while Honeydew muttered a few exasperated comments under his breath.

"Corridors of metal," Knight_Peculier sighed, "strange machines? What kind of place is this...?"

"It's like he's had years to change this place," The Dwarf said as they left the viewing room and continued down the hallway, "Ugh... What the heck...?"

"This is a bit weird," Xephos commented, "This is a bit sinister; I'm not sure I like it."

As they continued down the corridor, Annahvi couldn't help but wonder how old the fortress was. According to the signs they had see a few meters back, the Core Processing room had suffered some sort of thermo-meltdown, and the Antenna Array was blocked off by a huge landslide of debris. Perhaps these metal walls were years old, as Honeydew suggested.

As they continued through the darkness, said Dwarf would place down a torch ever few meters. Just as he planted a torch to his right, the lit flame illuminated yet another corridor, sealed away by the ominous blood-red Netherrack. Honeydew stared at it for a moment before grimacing and walking off; the other three were just as equally disturbed.

Annahvi gave and expression of disgust as she and Isis paused to examine its strange flesh-like texture.

_"Annahvi, do you know what this stuff is made of?"_

She looked at Isis in all of her complete obliviousness and smiled, "Trust me - you don't wanna know. C'mon, let's catch up with the others."

The shadow nodded her head and followed behind Annahvi as they quickly rejoined her friends.

"Is this something that's like a Stronghold in the Nether, except as metal tunnels?" Xephos asked, though none of his friends answered.

The moment they reached the end of the corridor, the four heroes instantly took note of the small dunes of sand that littered the floor. And in the middle of the room, between a pair of sandstone pillars, lay and obsidian portal.

"A portal!"

"Ah, but it's on," Xephos added as he examined the lack of surreal echoes, purple vortex, and metallic scent that usually accompanied a portal. However, none of the portal appeared to be damaged. "But it seems to be intact."

"Ah ha!" Knight_Peculier smiled with newfound hope as he saw the inactive gateway. As Honeydew and Knight_Peculier began to inspect the portal, Xephos turned to face the rest of the room, and instantly his eyes fell upon a corridor that lead straight out into the unexplored Nether.

"What's out here?" he mumbled, causing the Elf and Dwarf to follow him outside in curiosity.

"It's just the Nether," Honeydew practically scoffed as they stepped outside, however his friends saw otherwise. Further along, the metal platform they stood on seemed to completely disappear, only to have a small platform of metal just within jumping distance. As Annahvi's eyes followed the string of metal platforms, she realized that the metal platforms were merely surfaces of rings of metal linked to one another. She follow up the links and could see a strange building in the distance.

"Oh my God," Honeydew gasped, "It's like chains!"

Despite their curiosity, the three returned to Knight_Peculier and the unlit portal. They all stared at the obsidian frame with a vague feeling of expectancy; it was the knight who finally voice his opinion.

"Well, there's nothing to lose!" he stood beside the portal and turned to Honeydew, "Dwarf, can you light it?"

Annahvi and Xephos couldn't help but feel a hint of concern when they saw an eager smile form on Honeydew's face as he took a piece of flint in one hand, and a steel band in another.

He struck the two against each other and the moment the first few sparks hit the portal, an effervescent purple began to glow. Knight_Peculier smiled ambitiously as they gathered around the portal. "Let's see where this leads. Follow me!"

"I guess it can't be worse than this," Xephos shrugged as he followed behind Honeydew, "Form an orderly cue to use the portal."

Annahvi watched as her friends one-by-one disappeared through the portal. Once the last of Xephos' body was shrouded by the portal's metallic sheen, she sighed and stepped through the portal. Her body began to grow cold and her eyes were clouded with a purple haze that stung her eyes and the strange smell of brimstone entered her nostrils. Finally, though, she was able to feel the obsidian under her feet again and she stumbled out of the portal and right into a wall of sand.

She heard Honeydew laughed above her, "You're such a lightweight. Reminds me to never take you drinking."

"Bite me."

"Were are we now?" Knight_Peculier asked as Xephos helped her out and onto the sandy terrain, "Beyond the Wall?"

Once he was certain Annahvi would be able to stand on her own, Xephos let go of her hand and began to examine the world around him. Sand... Sand as far as the eyes could see. Mountains, valleys, oceans of sand - even the trees were made of petrified wood and sandstone...

"Where the heck are we?"

"I have no idea," Honeydew answered, though he followed Xephos general gaze to a large yellow and red figure in the darkness, "There's something over there... Is that, like a flag or..."

"God, it's very dark and miserable here..." as they headed towards the strange object, the Space Man grabbed his diamond sword, fearing for the worst to attack them.

"It's like ruins..." the Dwarf noted as they grew closer and closer. Through the pale moonlight, Xephos was able to faintly see the eroded stone walls, though it was only when he placed down a torch that they noticed a few signs that hung below a tattered flag.

_"May the sand never dull our blades" - Verigan_

_Crimson Cross Stone Templar's 6th Chapter Lastwatch Hold_

"Oh no..." Knight_Peculier sighed as they instantly recognized the name, "Lastwatch..."

"This is not good..." Xephos said, "This is not good news."

"What?!" Honeydew practically shouted as he read the signs, "We're not in Verigan's Hold... What? WHAT?!"

"Nonononono!" the Space Man tried to calm down his confused friend, "This is somewhere completely different - it says 'Lastwatch Hold'."

"So it's _another_ Hold... There are a series of Holds, and this is one that fell."

"It cannot be!" Knight_Peculier shook his head in disbelief.

As the three men struggled to make sense of their current situation, Annahvi had propped herself underneath one of the 'trees'. The sky was slowly beginning to turn from a pitch black to a light blue - it would be dawn soon. Knight_Peculier looked to the rising sun, an expression of shock still clear on his face.

"We have travelled a thousand leagues in only a few moments..." his voice was soft and winded, "I came here once, long ago... Lastwatch was one of the most important world-bastions. But now... the whole city... Buried in sand under our feet. If we do not stop Israphel, the whole world will look like this. Thousands will suffocate to death under the sand..."

"So this is an entire city..." Suddenly a sense of grim realization game over the three, however their thoughts were interrupted by Knight_Peculier.

"Heroes, I must rest a moment, but let me tell you my story." The Space Man, Elf, and Dwarf looked to each other in confusion before the four of them sat down in the middle of the desert. Half jokingly, Honeydew grabbed his flint and tinder and created a small fire that the four of them sat around.

"You have done what I could not, you have united the map fragments. I'm sorry for keeping this story from you, and you deserve to know it. Ever since Daisy was taken from me, I have felt different. My heart is like broken glass in my chest, but I have new strength and also... an understanding. To tell you in full, I must start at the beginning. My sister and I never knew our parents, not really. Our father was a city guard as Mistral and we often away defending the town. Our mother, I can only remember in flashes. Dark haired, kind, loving... It was one fateful night that everything changed. I was only four years old and all I could remember was rain, lightning, and a terrible pale face. He took our mother from us that night. Into whatever dark place he inhabits and then soon after, our father left us too. Adaephon raised us well, but I was forever haunted by that pale face. I vowed to find out what had happened to my parents.

"I traveled the length of the Wall and asked to each of the seven great Wall Bastions and I slowly learned the story of Verigan Antioch and how he had sacrificed himself to save Minecraftia, and his son Karpath who mysteriously vanished after setting up the Templars. First the years passed and the trail grew cold; I learned less and less and I began to be held in a grip of paralyzing nightmares. I felt myself growing weaker and weaker. Finally, weary and old before my time - unable to even hold a sword - I fled to the tiny village of Terrorvale to hide away as a lowly inn keeper. There, unexpectedly, my life turned around for the first time. I fell in love with a blacksmith and, for the a time, the nights were not as cold, but I could not escape my past.

"Before long people started disappearing from the tiny town. The nightmares returned, worse than ever and I started losing hours - sometimes days. Daisy grew distant from me and I grew paranoid that I was being controlled by _him_. I made the most cowardly decision I had ever made... To end my wretched life. I brewed a potent poison but before I could drink it, you arrived. At first, I thought to poison you all instead - so frantic with my paranoia. But I knew to understand that your hearts were not shrouded by the pale-faced man's power. Instead, I helped you as I could to rid Terrorvale of the corruption. But just as my spirit was returning, something so terrible happened that my heart shattered like ice. Daisy was gone. He had taken her just as he had taken my mother, and then I understood - I understood everything. My mind was clear.

"Until then, I hated my father for leaving us, but now I felt what he felt. He too had lost the love of his life to the darkness. Since then, I have been different. I have understood what drove my father and what is worth dying for. I guided you to Mistral City but my weakness returned on the journey and you saved my life a second time by seeking out the wizard Fumblemore for a potion that would restore my strength. You risked your lives and dignity trying to get the ingredients, and it shamed me for my cowardice. But it did not end there. You helped me recover my father's blade, ventured deep into the catacombs under Mistral, battling spiders side-by-side. When we uncovered my father's note I felt immense sadness but also great purpose. My father was dead but I could avenge him by seeking out the portals of Israphel and shut them down, lest the taint spread to all that is good in this world. I knew that I had to see Adaephon and that is where I left you, amongst the burning ruins if Mistral.

"I do not know what you found in the depths of the crumbling ruin save one thing. A fatal blow to the enemy's plan, the first fragment of the strange map. I sought Adaephon at Verigan's Hold, but the news was little better than the sight of Mistral City burning. It was under siege by the undead! I fought alongside Adaephon but, hearing the Wall had been breached, I set off immediately, leaving Adaephon instructions to send you my way when he found you. The Wall was damaged badly, I barely begun to make sense of how it happened when I was beset upon by the creatures of the night. I took refuge in an abandoned guard tower to tend to my wounds while I awaited your return. I'm sure you well remember the battle at the breach and all that follows, so I shall not recount that part of the tale now.

"After, while you sough additional fragments of the map, I traveled to Icaria in search for Fumblemore, the only person old enough to remember the construction of the Wall. Fortunately, he'd escaped Mistral in one piece, though there was little to say for his tower. He told me the pact Verigan made with the Dwarves, and I traveled immediately to Stoneholm. I was captured by the corrupted Dwarves."

"Good effort," Honeydew barely stifled his laughter.

"They held me for days before you arrived, but I had remains vigilant. Finally, I heard familiar voices and at long last you had found me. You told me of your adventures with the Skylords and your successful mission to Skyhold to retrieve the second map fragment. I'm glad that Lysander is well and that the help of the Skylords is with us. You told me of your encounter with the pirates at BBQ Bay and your journey to the treasure hold of Grimjaw_Slugface. The passages through the Deepcore were some of the harrowing I'd ever experienced, but we finally found a way through an active portal and defeated King_Finbar but not before he could awaken an ancient god that should have been sealed away forever. The situation is worse than ever! The world is on the verge of being suffocated by sand and we are the only ones who can stop it!

By the time Knight_Peculier had finished speaking, the sun had lowered beyond the horizon and the night sky was littered with glistening stars. What was once a scorching desert quickly became a cold and barren. The small fire provided a small amount of warmth and light, though it was struggling to stay alive in the hostile wasteland. The knight looked down at the flickering fire with a sense of uncertainty. "But entering the desert here will do us no good - we need supplies; food and water, and there are none here.

"Yeah, he's right" Xephos grumbled as he searched through his belongings, only to find miscellaneous objects. "We need supplies." Finally, Knight_Peculier stood up and headed towards the portal, "Come, we must return through the portal and find another."

As Annahvi followed behind Xephos and Honeydew, a growing sense of guilt began to settle in the pit of her stomach. Why did she continue to lie to her friends, though it was all too obvious that something was amiss? She had pushed away Xephos' concerns and questions, and yet Knight_Peculier didn't even hesitate as he explained his life story to the three of them.

"Hey, Annahvi?"

As the Elf was pulled away from her thoughts, she saw Xephos looking at her with a mix of expressions "Is something wrong?"

Despite their pervious arguments, he was still smiling at her; as expected, this did little to ease her growing shame.

"Um..." she starred down at her sand-covered boots for a moment before looking up at him again, "Is now a good time for that explanation?"

He looked at her with a slightly surprised expression, but he quickly recovered his optimistic smile and turned to Honeydew.

"Hey, Simon." he called out, "We're going to stay back here for a bit; you and KP go on without us, alright?"

The Dwarf laughed a nodded his head, "Don't do anything too crazy you two."

"Shut up, Simon!" Annahvi yelled back, though the three of them simply laughed. As Honeydew and Knight_Peculier disappeared from sight, the two remaining heroes had seated themselves on the sandy terrain once again. Annahvi couldn't help but fidget as she struggled to think properly, but Xephos looked at her with understanding patience.

"Dammit this is awkward..." Annahvi grumbled softly, but the Space Man laughed.

"Just start from the beginning," he suggested with a shrug.

"Okay..." she sighed and began to search through her bag, "Do you remember that book that I showed you, the one with the purple gem?" Xephos nodded his head and Annahvi removed the book from her bag, "Well... I didn't exactly _find_ it... and it wasn't exactly _in_ the Archives..."

Annahvi struggled to explain her story to Xephos, struggling to find the proper words, but as she spoke more and more, she grew confident and relieved. She told Xephos of Isis and Spirit Plane, though she chose to exclude her nightmares, and as she explained more, the Space Man's happy expression soon transformed into one of confusion and concern. Once Annahvi had stopped talking, Xephos' smile had completely disappeared.

"Am I the only one who knows this?"

"Skylord_Lysander knows... but he sort of figured it out on his own."

"I see..." she watched as he stood up and began to walk away.

"Are you mad at me?" she called out nervously. He paused and looked back to her for a moment.

_"I'm disappointed."_


	42. Chapter 36

**A/N: The only thing that I can say at this moment is thank you, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anybody, I've simply been feeling overwhelmed lately. I'd like to thank everyone who gave me their support and encouragement. From this moment forward that I will continue to write Shadow of Doubt until the bitter end. I promise.**

* * *

><p>Honeydew looked up to the stars in disbelief - one moment they sky was perfectly clear, and in an instant he and Knight_Peculier were caught in a downpour. Perhaps Xephos and Annahvi built a shelter for the night? But he dismissed the though, they were in too much of a hurry to wait out a meager storm.<p>

A goofy smile stretched across his face when he saw his two friends slowly rejoin him and Knight_Peculier. He smiled mischievously to the Space Man and lowered his voice. "So did anything happen?"

He was expecting some sort of witty response, or even something along the lines of 'Shut up, Simon'. What he received, instead, was absolute silence. He watched in confusion and Xephos continued past him, and it was then that the Dwarf realized that something had clearly gone wrong.

"Annahvi." Honeydew turned to the Elf, "Are the two of you alright?"

She looked up from her thoughts and gave a half-hearted smile with slight nod. "Don't worry," she answered softly, "It's no big deal."

They hurried out of the rain and back into the Nether, but as they stepped out from the obsidian portal, they instantly noticed that the facility had undergone drastic changes. The large opening they had found that could lead them out into the Nether was now overflowing with sand, the the passage they had arrive from was now flooded with lava.

"The way is blocked!" Knight_Peculier, though his three friends had probably realized that already, "Heroes, this place is unstable! We must find another portal!"

"I think we should probably try and find a way through," Xephos suggested as he approached the wall of sand, "Are we supposed to dig a hole?"

While the Space Man was preoccupied with mumbling to himself, Honeydew edged closer to the descending lava with a combination of fear and curiosity, though his thoughts were quickly interrupted when Xephos spoke once more.

"There is a... There is a sign here. It says 'Tube Access To Supply Rail'."

While the Honeydew and his friends joined Xephos to the other side of the room, he noticed a small shaft that lead down to a set of mine cart tracks. With no other option and the growing sound of explosions and damaged machinery, the four quickly climbed down the ladders, though the Dwarf somehow managed to slip and fall.

"Careful," Xephos said with a chuckle as he and Knight_Peculier approached a nearby chest.

Annahvi looked down at the Dwarf and quickly pulled him to his feet, "C'mon," she half-chuckled, half-sighed, "We should probably start moving; I'll explain things as we go, okay?"

He tossed her a grateful smile and they rejoined Xephos and Knight_Peculier, who were busy reading a sign beside a set of tracks.

"Freight Rail to NCS-88 Rollercoaster Access Chamber," The Space Man read aloud.

"Hm..." Knight_Peculier studied the sign in confusion as his three friends each grabbed a mine cart from the nearby chest. "I only know of one Rollercoaster."

"Oh!" Honeydew whispered to Xephos and Annahvi, "Do you think he means the one outside Verigan's Hold? At the carnival?"

"I guess that is the only one," Xephos shrugged, "It must be. That's where we're supposed to be going back to - Verigan's Hold."

"Let's go!" Knight_Peculier urged. But the moment Xephos placed his mine cart on the tracks, several loud explosions rung through the air. Honeydew flinched by the sudden noise before turning in confusion.

"What's that?!" he asked, eyes darting around frantically, "Fumblemore?!"

"Shall I go first, as always?" The Space Man asked as he stepped inside of the mine cart. "Please do," his friend answered, and with the push of a button Xephos was sent riding down the redstone-powered tracks.

"So what's going on between the two of you?" Honeydew asked as he helped Annahvi place her mine cart on the tracks, "Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"Well sort of," she smiled nervously, "I um... I took a book from the Archives without permission,"

"Wait," Knight_Peculier turned to her in curiosity, "A book?"

"It was underneath the Archives, in a glass case..." she explained, "It has a purple gem in the middle." The Elf looked up from her mine cart and saw the look of growing confusion and concern in her friends' faces. "Yeah..." she sighed as the mine cart hooked onto the rails, "So I stole the book and, well... I met someone..."

Farther up ahead, Xephos watched nervously with his hands clasped firmly to the mine cart as the metallic corridors rushed past while he continued down the tracks. The cart rattled and occasionally screeched against the iron rails, causing the Space Man to grip the sides even tighter, especially during one particular moment when the cart was rapidly approaching a decent sized gap, leaving only the bare rails. Xephos heartbeat quickened to a deadly speed as the cart dipped and its passenger was overcome with a frightening sense of falling. Thankfully, the rails were strong enough to support his and the cart's weight, just long enough for him to safely travel across the gap.

As Xephos' cart to a sharp turn to the right, he could hear the terrified screams of Honeydew, before being roughly yanked to the left. His mind was still spinning when he noticed another, relatively smaller gap up ahead, though the tracks came to an abrupt end with the floor. Without any guidance, his cart derailed and crashed into the floor below, which revealed to house several Zombie Pigmen. Xephos grunted in pain as his body was lurched forward, smashing right against the metal walls. Noticing his friends' nameplates growing closer and closer, the Space Man quickly scrambled out of his mine cart and onto the upper level, just as Honeydew and Annahvi crashed onto the floor.

"Don't worry about that," Xephos vaguely instructed to his friends as he gripped his diamond sword and stuck one of the Pigmen. It squealed in pain, and upon natural instinct, all of the surrounding Zombie Pigmen turned to Xephos and began to approach him.

"By Hari's beard!" Knight_Peculier watched, mouth agape as the Zombie Pigmen drew closer and closer before falling through the gap in the floor and several meters below. Still, one of the Pigmen managed to make its way around the hole and continued to harass Xephos until he finally pushed it into the hole.

"I think I'll just stay in the mine cart," Honeydew declared as the knight and Space Man carefully approached the hole in the floor. Sadly, the two men lost their footing and both fell through the floor and onto the level below. With no other option, the Dwarf followed behind Annahvi to assist their friends.

"Why did you start attacking them?!" Honeydew asked as he and Annahvi leapt into the fray, "They're neutral mobs until you attack them, you fool!"

"It's alright!" Xephos laughed as they finished off the remaining Pigmen, though he was quickly silenced by an onslaught of explosions. "Um... Okay, yeah. The level of explosions has increased, so - I don't wanna worry you but we should probably get moving. Okay!"

"Hang on a second," Honeydew asked as they began traveling down the corridor, "I just need you to clarify a few things."

Xephos turned to him in confusion, but the Dwarf simply continued, "So... You're mad because she stole a book?"

"Ah, to be honest," Annahvi laughed nervously, "It _is_ a very important book, so it's understandable if he's mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you for stealing the book," Xephos said bluntly, though they had all slowed to a halt.

"Are you mad because she didn't tell you about the book sooner?"

"No."

"Are you mad because she jeopardized the map fragments?"

"No!"

"Then why are you mad?!"

"I'M NOT MAD!"

Xephos snapped back to his friends with an irritated glance, his voice competing over the sound of explosions and monsters. After a moment of deafening silence, he sighed and regained composure. "C'mon. I can see a portal just up ahead. It can get us out of here."

Honeydew looked to Xephos in frustration, but after a moment he sighed a nodded his head; he wasn't going to get any more answers from his friends any time soon. He followed behind Xephos and Knight_Peculier as they headed towards the portal, but as they grew closer they instantly noticed something amiss.

"Roller coaster Access," Xephos read, "Maintenance Crew Only..." He looked up at the obsidian frame and noticed that the upper-right corner was nonexistent, but the portal appeared to be functioning without any problem.

"This portal is completely smashed up," the Space Man continued, "What's going on?"

However, Knight_Peculier paid no mind to the strange portal and without hesitance, he ran trough the portal and out of sight.

Honeydew watched nervously as Annahvi and Xephos entered the portal and vanished through the vortex, but with the nearing explosions there wasn't any other option. He took in a deep breath and followed after his friends.

When he opened his eyes, Honeydew was amazed to see that he and his friends had successfully transported themselves. He looked up to the new portal in confusion. "How is this portal still working?!"

"I don't know." Xephos answered, "There's like a bit of is messing as well, look, on this end."

Honeydew stumbled out of the portal and looked around, instantly noting that he and his friends were in another room made completely of metal, and like fortress in the Nether, this room was littered with monitors and all sorts of machinery.

"Where the hell are we now?" his friend asked.

"We must be underneath the rollercoaster." Knight_Peculier answered, "I know this thing was old, but I had no idea."

The Dwarf heard Xephos mumble in agreement, but he was more curious about a long deep curtain drape that covered one of the walls. He looked above the drapes and noticed a sign.

"Nubescu's room for da powderin' of ma face." he read, laughing as he tried to add the Jamaican accent. He watched as Xephos disappeared behind the curtains, before curiously entering the room alongside Knight_Peculier and Annahvi. The room was black and rather small, a tiny blue bed on one side of the room beside a redstone torch and block of glowstone, and the rest of the walls were lined with bookshelves.

Instantly the Dwarf's eyes were drawn to an obviously fake wall underneath a bookshelf, and once he pulled away the wall he was excited to see a small chest.

"Oh!" he called out to the others, "I found treasure!"

"Oh, have you?" Xephos joined his side in curiosity, "What's in there?"

They pulled out the hidden chest an peeked inside, though their hopes were instantly dashed when they saw the contents.

"Voodoo dolls and a pipe... and some bits of ladder..." Xephos examined the chest to see if anything else was hidden away, but sadly no such luck. Disappointed with the outcome, Honeydew turned to another secret compartment and retrieved a second chest. But the moment he opened the chest, the Dwarf looked in confusion.

"Cheese?!" he turned to his friends in confusion as he closed the chest, though the only reaction he received was Xephos' laughter. Other than a few miscellaneous oddities, there didn't appear to be anything interesting in Madame_Nubescu's room.

"So what is this thing here?" Xephos asked, leaving the room and turning to the display screens and levers that decorated the walls, "Is this the rollercoaster outside Verigan's? Is that what's goin' on? Are we underneath it somehow?"

"It must be." the Dwarf agreed, "It must be these are all the controls for it, this Nubescu's secret Powderin'-of-da-Face room.." He continued to explore the room as he spoke, and it was then when he noticed a small chest hidden away in the corner of the room.

"'Bruno's Private Stash: NO BABBIES'. Oh, God, what's in here?"

Xephos and Honeydew nervously opened the chest, both cautious and curious to know what was inside.

Suddenly the entire room echoed with the sound of high-pitched laughter.

Annahvi and Knight_Peculier flinched when they heard the delighted squeals of Honeydew, and they were both somewhat concerned with what the Dwarf may have found. The Elf and knight turned to each other in confusion before looking at their friends, who were still captivated by the chest.

"Oh my God!" Xephos said as his knuckles bumped against something hard and cold. "Look at the one here, look at this! In middle, between the two potions of strength!" He reached into the chest and carefully move his hands around, until he was able to firmly grasp onto a transparent handle of a very transparent pickaxe. "It's an invisible pickaxe, Simon."

The Dwarf looked at his friend in confusion as he fumbled with the pickaxe, but the moment his grasp was firm, his eyes lit up.

"OH MY GOD! THAT'S HOW HE CHEATED! That son of a... Oh! Oh, I'm furious!"

"Let us continue," Knight_Peculier suggested, as Honeydew fumed silently.

Annahvi followed the knight through a rather short corridor into another room, which appeared to be a sort of-kitchen. On one side of the room, there was a massive mushroom farm and another set of bookshelves. The books reached the end of the wall and ended around the corner, which lead to a rather quaint kitchen. It was equipped with a furnace, a cauldron, and a few bits of food were neatly on display. On the final wall, there was a rather strange contraption. It looked like a set of pistons, the first set exactly one meter after the second. A long narrow window which spanned from one side of the room to the next was the only way to see the contraption, that apparently lead to the kitchen and fed into a strange little room, only visible by a separate window.

However, Annahvi's thoughts on the kitchen were interrupted when a certain Dwarf asked them a very odd question.

"How do I look?"

Annahvi sighed as she turned to face Honeydew, "What on Earth are you talking abo-"

Pink - that was all she could think of.

There, standing at the doorway, was her good friend Honeydew. In his rugged hand he held a wand with a star on top, and he was wearing a pair of tight pink pants. Xephos howled with laughter as Knight_Peculier struggled to keep a straight face.

"...That does look very heroic..." he said, barely able to stifle his laughter.

"Annahvi?" Honeydew turned to his Elven friend, "What do you think?"

She simply stared at him, unable to form a single word. Knight_Peculier waved a hand in front of her face. "Annahvi?"

"Is she even breathing?" Honeydew asked, before grinning, "This is the exact same thing that happened when we found Lysander in the 'Fungeon'."

"Oh God, Simon." Xephos grumbled, as he tried to forget the hectic evening.

"I think I need to sit down," Annahvi said softly, "I'm feeling a bit ill..."

The Space Man and Dwarf laughed as they watched their friend stumble into a nearby chair and hide her face in her hands.

"Oh God..." she groaned.

"Where are we now?" Knight_Peculier said, the sudden laughter from his voice had been completely drained. The four looked around the room in confusion, hoping to find something of use. It was then that Xephos noticed a level on the side of the room, near the door, and above the lever was a sign.

"'Voodoo pig access tube'." Xephos read in confusion. He looked at his friends, though they continued to explore the room. "I fee like I shouldn't be pulling any of these levers, but I'm gonna pull this one."

With none of his friend's objecting to the decision, the Space Man approached the lever once again and pulled it down. The four watched in curiosity as the lever echoed a loud _CLANK_, but nothing happened.

"Has that done anything?" Honeydew asked as he examined the lever.

Xephos examined the strange glass window, when he noticed the curious sound of snorting and oinking.

"I hear pigs," he announced, "Can you hear pigs?"

He paused for a moment and the room became silent. "Okay, nothing's happened." he murmured, somewhat disappointed, "Nothing has happened; that's fine..."

Just as he said that, there was the sound of air being released, and suddenly the strange contraption seemed to come alive. The pistons in the window began to move in time with one another, and in between two of the pistons was a full grown pig.

Honeydew and Knight_Peculier could only 'um' and 'uh' as they watched another pig follow behind the first one, and then another, and another.

"This is amazing,"

"This...This is not going to end well, is it?" Honeydew said, more of a statement rather than a question.

"Where are these guys going?" Xephos asked as he watched the conveyor belt lead the pigs beyond the glass window.

"I'm not sure..."

"There he is!" Knight_Peculier alerted his friends to a pig, now behind the large window that hung above the kitchen.

As Honeydew laughed at the sight of the increasing number of pigs, Xephos approached the window and examined a few signs underneath, between a solitary button.

"Uh... Is this... Is this an oven, uh, that they're going into?"

"The 'Super Crispy Baconator XKL - 6.0'." Honeydew read as Xephos noticed that the floor of the room was actually an array of iron fences.

"How many pigs are going in there?!" he laughed in disbelief, though there was evident concern in his voice.

"I really wanna push the button," Honeydew said, "I really wanna push the button. Can I push the button? Please?"

"Uh... sure." the Space Man shrugged, "Push the button."

The instant that the Dwarf pushed the stone button, a massive fire erupted from the floor of the oven and suddenly all of the pigs were being cooked alive.

"Oh my!" Knight_Peculier recoiled as the others screamed or yelled in shock and horror. They watched as the pigs were consumed by the fires, and at the bottom of the oven was a freshly cooked porkchop.

"Wow," Xephos looked at the pieces of pork, "And the pork comes out the bottom here." He quickly grabbed them and put them away, "Oh my god, that was five pork there."

"Delicious!" Knight_Peculier laughed.

"Well, this thing's amazing," the Space Man declared as he turned off the lever, though stopping the machine.

"What happens if you just keep pushing it?" Honeydew asked ahe demonstrated to his friends.

"I- I think it probably just over-cooks by the looks of the sign of the instructions there."

"This is amazing!"

"Heroes, we have enough food to go on!" Knight_Peculier said, interrupting the two men's conversation.

"Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" Honeydew laughed, "Uh Peculier kind of wants to get on and do stuff, and I'm just playing with pigs."

"I'm not sure I'd call that playing," Annahvi replied sarcastically as she followed behind her friends, though Xephos was busy searching through another chest. She headed up a ladder near the mushroom farm, and was surprised to see that she and Honeydew were merely standing in an empty room.

"Oh..." Honeydew said, in disappointment as Xephos and Knight_Peculier joined them, "I went up the ladder, but there's nothing up here."

However, Xephos noted a small stone button hiding in the darkest corner of the room. He pushed it, and after a few seconds a nearby section of the wall was removed, revealing another room.

"Oh, look!" Honeydew said he entered the room, "it's a bit dark."

"It's so dark!" Knight_Peculier agreed.

"Where the hell are we now?" Xephos asked, holding onto his diamond sword tightly. He fumbled through his inventory for a moment before placing down a torch, right beside an obsidian cauldron.

"Oh, God! This is Nubescu's room!" he said in realization.

"Oh my God, I remember!"

"Wow... I wonder where she's gone..." Xephos noticed a rather large hill of sand near the ladders leading up to Verigan's Hold, along with several vines. A slight sense of dread overcame the Space Man as he approached the ladders.

"How do we get out of here?" he placed another torch down near the ladders, and began to climb upwards, though he was greeted with the sight of a compacted barrier of sand.

"Well there's sand up here," Xephos said as he reached he top of the ladders and carefully dug out some of the sand. As the other's joined him, Xephos had managed to break through the sand and it quickly crumbled. He quickly closed his eyes and turned his head down to shield himself from the sand, and once all of the sand was gone, he began to feel the heat from the sun up above.

"Let's get out of here!" Xephos grumbled as he struggled to clear away the remaining sand. Finally, he and his friends had removed enough sand for them to safely let go of the ladders and walk onto the sand, though the sight they saw provided little comfort.

"Oh no!" Knight_Peculier gasped, "Verigan's hold!"

"Oh my God," Xephos said as he looked around the desert, noting the walkways made of sand and sandstone.

"So covered in sand and shit!" Honeydew cried.

As they climbed up the massive sand dunes, the heroes realized how dire the situation was in reality. The entire fortress and landscape was covered in a thick ocean of sand, and the only plants for miles were the cactus that littered the desert. They turned around and noticed the Skull behind them, as sand poured from its eyes and mouth.

"The desert..." Knight_Peculier panicked, "It's... Adaephon! I hope he's alright!"

They quickly hurried to the entrance to Verigan's Hold, and it was then that Honeydew and Xephos noticed a barely readable nameplate behind the massive wall of sand.

"Adaephon's over there!" Honeydew alerted his friends.

"We must get inside! Shovels! We need them!"

Honeydew searched through his belongings and was able to find two shovels. He tossed one to Xephos before charging into the wall of sand, clearing a path for him and his friends.

"Go Dwarf, Go!" Knight_Peculier cheered as the Dwarf and Space Man cleared through the sand and up to the main building.

"Let's just break the windows and get straight in there," Xephos suggested as he grabbed a pickaxe and began to mine away some of the wall.

Honeydew looked at his friend in confusion.

"Look, we're in a hurry!" he said as they entered the building, through there was no sign of Templar_Adaephon.

"Where the hell is he?" Xephos asked as he looked around the room.

"Is he out in the battlements over here?" Honeydew asked, through the way was blocked with even more sand. "Adaephon!" he called out, through there was no reply.

"He must be in his private bedroom." Knight_Peculier suggested.

"Okay," Xephos rejoined his friends, "Where's that?"

The knight turned to the massive tapestry which proudly displayed the Crimson Cross, and tore away a small portion of the cross, revealing a lever. With the pull of the lever, the nearby wall was pulled back, revealing a set of wooden stairs.

"What?" Honeydew watched, dumbfounded, "There was a... There was a secret room here all along?"

"Well there was one in the Archives," Annahvi shrugged, "So there may as well be more."

The Dwarf watched, still somewhat bewildered as his friends hurried up the stairs, before quickly following after them.

"Uncle!" Knight_Peculier cried.

"Ah he looks... He doesn't look good," Xephos said softly to his friends behind him, "He's, uh, lying down."

Instantly Honeydew recoiled in disgust. "The last time I saw someone like this they exploded into a cloud of blood and I vomited up Jaffa Cakes. Ugh..."

They approached the withered Templar_Adaephon at his beside as he struggled to breathe properly. He turned his head to Knight_Peculier, his eyes tired and bloodshot.

"Verigan?" he groaned, before giving a violent cough, "... is that you? Why aren't you at school?"

Honeydew groaned in a mix of worry and irritation. "Oh my God, he's lost his mind."

"Uncle? What is wrong?"

"The sentinels!" The Templar murmured softly, staring into space with an almost primal sense of ear, "They boil the desert with their eyes..."

"That doesn't sound good," Honeydew said softly as Knight_Peculier placed a hand on his uncle's forehead.

"My goodness," he wined, "he is burning with fever!"

Templar_Adaephon continued to ramble on an on as Knight_Peculier grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

"Uncle! Wake up!"

"Just say the word," Honeydew began, as he grabbed a red cushion, "and I'll smother him with this pillow. Just say the word."

"Quick, heroes!" Knight_Peculier turned to the three, "Do you have any water?"

"I've got a bucket of water," Xephos noted as he fumbled through his inventory.

"Water, heroes, water! Pour it on his face!"

Xephos turned to the aged Templar with the bucket in his hands, and threw the water directly over him. Of course, the room was practically flooded when Templar_Adaephon struggled to get out of bed, coughing up water, but at least he was up and awake.

"Well that's certainly _one _way to wake him up," Honeydew said as Xephos re-collected the water.

"Uncle..." Knight_Peculier said, cautiously.

"Where am I?" Templar_Adaephon replied, as he leaned against the nearby wall for support.

"You're safe," the knight continued, "But Verigan's Hold has fallen to the sands."

"Then I have failed... I am so tired..." Honeydew could see the shock and despair form on the Templar's face as he looked down in shame. "Please... Let me die..."

"I've got the pillow..." the Dwarf reminded his friends.

"No, Uncle, you must come with us!" Knight_Peculier yelled, though his uncle simply shook his head.

"Run... Run far away and never look back! Without the map, the world is doomed..."

"But, Uncle! We have the map fragments right here!"

He looked up, his eyes now shining and hope and shock. He struggled to find his words as he looked back and forth between the four heroes.

"The.. you... really?"

"Yes! Look!"

Xephos and Honeydew revealed four torn papers and handed them to Knight_Peculier's uncle. He took the papers in his hands and studied them, his eyes widening with every second.

"This! This is the map!" a smile began to grow on his face as he took a roll of black tape and began to arrange the fragments together. He handed the map to Xephos, and the Dwarf and Elf gathered around to him to examine the map.

With the tape binding the four pieces together, they were able to understand the true map. A river began at the bottom of the map and a few palm trees followed alongside the river as it curved to the left and stopping. To the left, there was a red dotted line, at at one end was a distinct red 'X'.

"I am too weak, too old," Templar_Adaephon continued as the heroes continued to examine the map. his voice was suddenly filled with a hint of guilt. He turned to his nephew. "I have no choice. Come, young one. There is something you should see."

The three heroes watched in confusion as Templar_Adaephon began climbing up a ladder along the wall, with Knight_Peculier right behind. After a moment of curiosity, they followed after their friends. Once they finally reached the end of the ladder, the first thing the heroes noticed as that the room was full of books. Bookshelves lined all but one wall, and at the top of the shelves was a plaque, with a single sign at the beginning: _To Adaephon_.

"This is a letter that Karpath left me before he died," he explained.

"_Little brother, I leave you this note in secret as you may never see me again. My fears about a darker evil are true. I have changed my name to 'Peculier', and under the guise of a city guard, I have infiltrated a cult. Tonight, I halt the corruption at is source. If I should fail, then terrible events will proceed quickly and you must be ready. The sand will flow from The Desert, devouring everything. You must recover my map from the hidden places, then travel to the Spire Tree._

"Well I'm really lookin' forward to that..."

"_From there, seek the tomb of our ancestors and do what must be done. I have left Isabel and young Verigan in the care of Granny_Bacon. If I do not return, and if the sand calm, then we have won and you can rebuild the world in peace. My last request is that you never tell my children of my fate - and of the terrible of our family bloodline. May the sand never dull your blade, brother."_

"I... I am sorry to have kept this from you, Nephew." Templar_Adaephon looked down in shame as he .

"... Is this true?" Knight_Peculier asked, he looked to Templar_Adaephon in a mix of confusion and hurt.

"Yes. Your true name is Verigan Antioch."

"And... and you?"

"My true name is Adaephon Antioch, not Peculier. Karpath said that I am the last of the Templar Kings. When I die, that title will pass to you."

"To me? Who are the Templar Kings? What is the burden of our bloodline?"

"I cannot say," he answered softly, "because I do not know. But enough time. Time is short, this way! I hope the viewing tower is not ruined." Templar_Adaephon turned to another door way, flooded with sand, and began to slowly uncover the way. Honeydew watched as Xephos aided the Templar, before he turned to Annahvi.

"So Karpath is Peculier's dad," he began, "He was the guard... Old_Peculier- or Knight_Peculier's real name is actually Verigan, and we have to go to a tree that's covered in spiders..."

"It would appear so,"


	43. Chapter 37

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope all of you have enjoyed a fulfilling dinner with friends and family. I hope to post Chapter 38 by the end of the year, and in case any of you are wondering, I'll explain a bit about Annahvi as an elf at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

><p>"Okay, so let's dig our way out of here." Xephos urged as he began to slowly remove more of the sand blocking the way to the viewing tower. "I don't think Adaephon should be doin' the digging - he's a bit old."<p>

Sure enough, Templar_Adaephon had to periodically rest and stop digging, while Xephos continued forwards up a set of stairs.

"I am too weak," the Templar huffed, "I am sorry. There should be a way out at the top of the high tower."

Of course by this point, Xephos was able to successfully clear a path from Templar_Adaephon's study to the base of the tower. Sure enough, the Space Man simply needed to climb a ladder to the top and he saw a door leading out into the open. He stepped out into the open and breathed in the fresh air as he leaned against the wooden fencing that surrounded the tower's balcony - though the sand had risen right below the stone slabs of the balcony by now.

"Freedom," he sighed as he gazed out into the sky, though the relief did last long. Out in the distance, Xephos was about to faintly make out a pair of odd shapes as they hovered in the air. They were too small to be planes, but they were certainly man-made creations. He muttered under his breath as he watched the strange objects, "What the hell is that over there?"

He watched the strange contraptions dance about in the air for a few seconds, and then turned to his friends, who were just reaching the top of the ladder. Honeydew, as expected of the Dwarf, instantly turned to a nearby chest and quickly opened it. His eyes widened with glee as he look inside. "Oh my God! There's, like, mega-enchanted super-bows!"

"Is there?" Xephos asked as he joined Honeydew beside the chest. He peeked inside the chest, and was thankful to see a pair of bows carefully stored inside. As the two men continued to discuss the different properties of their newfound weapons, Annahvi looked to Templar_Adaephon. Isis looked to her friend in confusion, as she instantly noticed a sense of anxiety.

_"Annahvi?" _she asked, _"What's wrong?"_

The last time they saw each other, the Templar was practically beaming with ambition, guiding the Elf and her friends to an impossible journey. Even after facing the sands, Templar_Adaephon had miraculously managed to maintain his vitality, but it was obvious he had suffered a deadly blow to his health. He struggled to stay upright, even when leaning against the cobblestone walls, and his eyes were sunken and bloodshot. His hands shook nervously, his skin was clammy and cracked, and Annahvi was certain the poor man would collapse at any moment.

"Uncle," Knight_Peculier said to the Templar, "Come with us!"

"I am too weak. I am sorry." Templar_Adaephon merely shook his head with a disheartened smile, but in an instant he turned to the heroes will his original sense of urgency, "Time is short, you must hurry. The spider tree is south along the wall."

Though hesitant, the knight nodded his head in understanding. "Farewell then, Uncle. If we return, I hope it is in better times."

"Go now," Templar_Adaephon continued, "I will remain here."

"Come heroes." Knight_Peculier instructed, Let's go!"

The knight followed his friends out of the tower and to the desert, but stopped in his pursuit when he looked up to the sky.

"What are those?"

The figures in the air Xephos saw before had grown larger; they were getting closer, and another two machines followed behind the first two. With the strange mechanisms closer, the Space Man realized that the air crafts were small balloon-like airships, decorated with the Crimson Cross of the Templars.

"Maybe they're friendly," the knight suggested, before calling out, "Hail up there!"

As the balloons grew closer and closer, Xephos realized that the navigators of the ships were actually a small pack of the undead. And they were headed straight for the tower. After a moment of fear, Xephos drew back an arrow with his new bow and shot it at the nearest hot-air balloon. The arrow managed to pierce through the balloon, sending it and the navigator plummeting to the earth with a sickening crunch.

With the zombie no longer a threat, Honeydew approached the damaged ship. The arrow didn't cause too much damage, and Xephos was able to supply his friend with a roll of tape to mend the hole. As the Dwarf began to toy with the hurriedly-repaired ship, Xephos continued to fire arrow after arrow to the remaining balloons. Within seconds, all four of them managed to repair and set up their individual hot-air balloons. Annahvi carefully wedged herself inside the basket, though Isis didn't seem to complicate the issue of space too much.

_"So how do one of these work?"_ her shadow asked, with a surprising hint of eagerness.

"I... I think I just need to heat up the furnace..." Annahvi muttered softly as she carefully added more and more coal, "and then we should begin to raise..."

As the four heroes began their ascend to the skies, an unnerving sense of guilt began to grow inside Annahvi's stomach. She was certain Templar_Adaephon knew about the missing book, and yet he showed no sign of it. He merely smiled weakly at the four of them. She was hopeful that she would be able to see the kind Templar once again, though hope was balanced by dread. Annahvi was plagued with the foreboding sense this would be the last time she saw Templar_Adaephon. If that was the case, Annahvi _had_ to speak to him - to ask for forgiveness. She turned to her shadow, about to ask for advice, but Isis merely smiled and nodded her head.

_"Let's go," _she said, _"I understand that you need to set things right."_

Annahvi smiled in gratitude and quickly hopped out of her hot-air balloon, causing her friends to turn in confusion.

"Oi!" Honeydew called out, "Where are you goin'?"

"I'll be right back!" she called back to her friends, "I just have to do something first."

The two rushed into the tower and turned to Templar_Adaephon.

"Annahvi? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry." she said, handing him the book, "I didn't listen to your advice, and I... I realize that I was being selfish. Here is the book - safe and sound - and I promise I'll never do anything so... stupid ever again."

She looked up at Templar_Adaephon, whose expression had changed, not to anger or disappointment, but rather disturbance.

"Annahvi," he said, in a voice that was so different from the one she just heard, "I understand that you are genuinely sorry, and I forgive you." Without even noticing, Templar_Adaephon had slipped the book right back into her hands.

"But I cannot accept the book anymore. You have, for lack of a better word, bound yourself to its magic, making you the sole owner. This book and all of its contents are your responsibility and yours alone."

It was a mix between relief and fear, and, after a moment of deafening silence, Annahvi finally found her voice once again.

"W-What am I supposed to do now?"

She saw a look in Templar_Adaephon's eyes that she had never seen before' pity. A wave of fear washed over her body, making her blood run ice cold.

"Get rid of it," he instructed, "But you can't just burn it or tear out the pages; that won't work. No... You need to hide it. Burry it in a labyrinth or seal it away in a safe, so no one will ever know it existed. The power in that book can change people - it can corrupt them."

Without another word, Templar_Adaephon began to climb down the ladder to his bedroom. He muttered something under his breath before disappearing down the ladder, leaving the Elf alone with her shadow.

_"Annahvi... are you okay?"_

The she looked to Isis, and then at the book.

"C'mon," she chuckled weakly, "The other's re probably waiting for us."

Without waiting for a response, Annahvi walked out of the tower and back into her hot-air balloon.

"Okay!" she called out to her friends in a tone of ambition and happiness, "I'm all set now! Let's get going!"

"About bloody time," Honeydew grumbled as the four heroes rose into the sky.

"Okay," Xephos called out as they began to pilot their balloons, "Where are we going?"

"South along the wall," Knight_Peculier answered.

"Which way is south?"

"I have _no_ idea!" the Dwarf answered. Of course, Knight_Peculier knew exactly which direction to travel, so Xephos, Annahvi, and Honeydew had to merely follow behind their friend.

Navigation in a hot-air balloon was surprisingly easy, the heroes discovered; a steam engine to power two propellors on the sides, and the ropes attached to the basket could be used to turn the balloon whichever way. Once the engine was burning with coal and water, Annahvi leaned against the right-hand side of the basket, overlooking the rich green forest as the balloon floated by, creating a nice breeze in comparison to the desert heat. She noticed that Xephos was about a meter behind, and Honeydew was moving closer and closer to her balloon.

"Hey, Annahvi!" The Dwarf called out.

"Hm?" she turned around to face him with a tiny smile, "What is it?"

"I was just wondering," he began, "So you know how to use magic, right?"

The Elf laughed and shook her head, "I'm not very good at it. All I can do is move objects and break things; it's going to be a while to go before I can do anything too spectacular."

The Dwarf sighed dramatically as he pouted.

"So I guess you can't just, like, 'poof' up a plate of Jaffa Cakes?"

Despite the sense of urgency, both Annahvi and Honeydew laughed amongst one another as they followed behind Knight_Peculier. But as the four of them traveled alongside the dividing line of The Wall, their laughter quickly died down. The sands of the desert had succeeded in breaching the stone barrier and pouring into the forest.

"I don't want to be the one to clean all that up," Honeydew laughed and turned to his friends, but Knight_Peculier looked down to the earth below them with dread.

"The wall... The desert is winning." his voice died down into hushed mumbles, but soon after he looked back up to his friends and began to steer his balloon to the left.

"This way, heroes!"

The three clumsily steered their ships in an attempt to follow behind Knight_Peculier, but their movements were clumsy and shaky, causing Honeydew and Xephos to collide head-on, while Annahvi tried to nervously navigate around her friends. Once the three were certain there wasn't going to be a mid-air collision, they continued to follow behind Knight_Peculier, past the 'Energy Spire and to a very strange looking tree.

Even from a distance, the heroes could see a veil of spiderwebs descend from the top of the tree, and slowly collect onto the walls below. The entire tree appeared to be planted at the top of a strange fortress, right beside a long winding wall constructed of mossy cobblestone which continued well beyond the enormous tree. As Xephos neared closer and closer to the Spider Tree, he realized a minute problem.

"How do we descend? How do we go down?"

There was a moment of silence, before Honeydew and Xephos began to fumble with the different controls.

"Oh crap," Xephos said, as he came closer to the top of the Spider Tree, "We're just going to have to get out on top of the Spider Tree. This might to badly... for one or more of us."

He grabbed the ropes to the balloon, and carefully hoisted himself up until he was standing on the edge of the basket. Of course, Xephos made the horrible mistake of looking below; he felt his stomach lurch forward. The basket began to slowly forward, barely allowing the Space Man to balance himself with the ropes. He looked down at the tree, his head pounding with adrenaline, and jumped out of the basket.

He landed in the spiderwebs and grabbed onto the nearby branches before he could fall any lower.

"Oh my God," Honeydew groaned, "I'm a _little_ bit worried how this might go..."

Xephos looked up and watched as his hot-air balloon slowly drifted away from them, before looking down to the world below. He instantly noticed Knight_Peculier's title from the other side of the wall, slowly climbing up to the tree. Meanwhile, Honeydew screamed in terror as he and Annahvi slowly jumped out of their balloons and joined Xephos in the branches.

"Nicely done," the Space Man joked as he turned back to his aircraft once more.

"You alright down there, Knight_Peculier?!" Honeydew yelled nervously, before laughing.

"Okay, so what are we looking for in this tree?" Xephos asked as he began to hack away at any stray branches in his way, "He just sort of said 'Go to the Spider Tree.' Is there anything here?"

"Go to the Spider Tree..." Honeydew muttered softly.

"You alright up there, heroes?!" Knight_Peculier called out, as he reached the trunk of the tree.

"We're good!" Xephos replied as Honeydew gave him a thumbs-up, "Thanks, Peculier."

Annahvi quickly began to lower herself from branch to branch, with the others following behind.

"I hear spiders," Knight_Peculier warned as they reached the base of the tree, and, as if on cue, a small swarm of spiders bombarded the four.

"They were able to make quick work of the pests, though. Once the last of the spiders were killed, Xephos turned to the trunk of the Spider Tree. It was encased in a circle of stone slabs, and the very base of the tree had become petrified in a thick case of sandstone. There appeared to be a large crack at the bottom of the trunk, and inside Xephos could faintly see a single chest and the remains of a lifeless skeleton.

"Oh, hello," Honeydew laughed as they opened the chest, "Oh there's a map! There's a map in here!"

"Aha!" Xephos said as he examined the map.

"I remember this place," Knight_Peculier said to his friends, "From Adaephon's stories."

"Uh... Have a look at this," Xephos said as he handed the map to his friends.

Although the Spider Tree and the fortress had suffered from the elements and time, the map appeared to be in perfect condition. It showed an enormous tower just beyond the shore, surrounded by luscious green and deep blue. On the top of the building, was the unmistakable symbol of the Crimson Cross, and a long red line appeared to be leading from the tower, beyond a large stone wall, and into the desert.

"Is it somewhere near by?" Xephos asked as he scanned over the terrain, "That's the Spire over that way..."

"I came here once, when I was a child," the knight continued, "I stood beneath this very tree, never knowing this was here."

The Space Man continued to search the landscape for anything similar to the map, and in the distance he could faintly see the top of a building.

"There's something over this way," he alerted his friends, "There's like a flag over here!"

"Is there a big flag with a cross on, and it's on the top of a tower, with water coming out of it, and a sort of circular wall."

"Well, I can see a sort of tattered-y kind of flag over here," Xephos answered as they began to head off towards the building. To avoid trouble of wading through the water from a destroyed reservoir, he began to walk across the fortress' wall, and onto a nearby tree. With a clearer view and _relatively _closer distance, Xephos could now clearly see the shape of a tiered building, with the remains of a yellow flag on top, and water cascading down the sides. It rested across a large lagoon, surrounded by sand and forestry.

"Yes!" Honeydew confirmed, "That looks like the building on the map."

"Okay, that's where we want to go, then." Xephos carefully lowered himself into the water and beside his friends. Once they reached the the bottom of the fortress, just before where the lagoon began, he frowned. "How are we going to get over there? Do you have a boat or anything like that?"

"I'll just swim like a man," Honeydew scoffed as he jumped into the water, "You need the exercise anyway."

"Well, maybe," Xephos laughed as he took his enchanted bow and show Honeydew in the back. He laughed as Honeydew was shoved an extra meter ahead of them.

Annahvi scoffed with a roll of her eyes as she continued to swim towards the tower.

_"Annahvi?"_ She turned and saw Isis following behind, floating just above the water. _"Can I ask you a question?"_

"Of course," Annahvi answered. She no longer whispered, but it still felt strange talking out loud to an etherial being. "What's on your mind?"

_"I want to know... What are you going to do with the book?"_

The shadow looked at her with a face of fear. By this point, they were well aware of the risks of using magic, but Templar_Adaephon's advice held more similarity to a warning or threat. Did he hold no faith in the Elf? What would happen to Isis? What would happen to _her_? She grumbled softly under her breath; so many questions, and not enough answers.

"I need some time to think about things," Annahvi finally answered, "I'm not going to do anything to the book, not just yet."

Though it obviously wasn't the most ideal answer, Isis chose not to press press any further. Finally, the four of them reached the shore of the tower and quickly climbed out of the water. However the moment Xephos steadied himself on the sand, he looked up and remembered; the map didn't show any beaches near the tower. The sand was spilling out from a massive breach in the wall, just like Verigan's Hold.

"Oh my God," he didn't gasp in horror, but the concern in his voice was obvious, "Jesus, this makes the breach in the wall look totally pathetic!"

Cactus was already beginning to grow out of the desert, and they knew it wouldn't be long before the desert claimed all the life around the tower.

"What is this place?" Knight_Peculier asked as they looked around, before noticing the massive hole. "We'll have to fix that later; we have to find the next clue."

"Well, let's get inside." Xephos grumbled silently as they passed through the outer gates of the tower. He looked around and groaned in despair, "Oh great..."

The tower, much like the Spider Tree and fortress, had damaged by an onslaught of storms and attacks. The first floor of the tower was completely flooded by a waterfall from above, the trees were littered with cobwebs, and the entire place was riddled with a wide array of monsters.

"Well there are Zombie-Dwarves in there, and skeletons too."

"Fight your way through!" Knight_Peculier instructed, and his three friends did so without hesitation. Honeydew and Knight_Peculier charged into the fray with their swords raised high while Annahvi and Xephos were attacking enemies from afar.

"Careful!" Xephos warned Honeydew, as he shot a spider right behind the Dwarf, "Behind you!"

He cried out in fear as the spider leapt at him and jumped out of the way, allowing Knight_Peculier to impale the monster.

"Okay, let's go." The Space Man continued, "Let's do this!"

"Why did I wade in there when I've got this enchanted bow?" Honeydew asked, though no one answered his rather obvious question. The four finally succeeded in fighting their way into the tower, but the battle did not end there. Suddenly a massive horde of zombies on the left side of the room dispersed and charged after the heroes. Xephos began shooting arrow after arrow, but he was quickly forced back by the undead.

He groaned in annoyance as he put away his bow and unsheathed his diamond sword. The swarm of undead slowly began to diminish as Xephos rejoined his friends, but it seemed that every time one monster was killed, another fell from above or clawed its way into the tower. As the four struggled to fend off the monsters, none of them noticed the skeletal archer, aiming right for Honeydew.

The Dwarf screamed in pain as the arrow pierced his skin and dug into his back. His three friends turned on an instant and attacked the skeletons around Honeydew, but blood was already beginning to drip from his wound.

"I'll take care of Simon," Annahvi alerted the others, "You two just focus on the monsters." With a stern nod, Xephos charged into the nearest monster and sliced into its skull with his diamond sword. In the end, there were only three more skeletons, and they were quickly disposed of. Once the last of the enemies were killed, Xephos and Knight_Peculier turned to Honeydew and Annahvi. The Dwarf was no longer groaning, but his back was bright red in a mix of irritation and spilled blood.

"Simon," the Elf spoke in a stern yet protective voice, "I'm going to try something, okay? But you have to trust me, and try not to scream... Okay?"

"Alright..." he groaned softly, trying not to move too much.

Annahvi let out a deep breath and began to search through her belongings until she found the book, and a roll of bandages. She frantically flipped through the pages until she decided on one specific page. Her eyes scanned the words, muttering under her breath.

"Okay..." she swallowed audibly and faced Honeydew's wound.

A string of intangible syllables dripped from Annahvi's mouth, in a voice that was foreign to everyone save for the Elf and her shadow. She carefully grasped the arrow and began to slowly remove the arrow from Honeydew's back. Blood began to trail down his back, though the Dwarf did not scream.

The Space Man and Knight recoiled in a mix of fear and disgust as Annahvi pressed the bandages against his wound. Once the arrow was completely removed, Annahvi placed it on the ground, slowly stopping her chanting. She removed the bloody bandages and, to their surprise, the wound had completely healed with only a small scar as any trace of the incident.

Honeydew carefully rose to his feet, trying to see the scar properly. All three men turned to Annahvi in a mix of confusion and fear, but she merely smiled weakly and nodded her head. "Let's continue, shall we?"

They didn't say anything, only nodded their heads in agreement and began to swim up the waterfall to the second floor. Annahvi watched as they disappeared onto the second floor, still smiling. Isis turned to her in confusion.

_"Annahvi?" _she began to speak, but the Elf interrupted him.

"How long?" she asked.

_"I-I'm sorry, what do you mean?"_

"How long was that book hidden under the Archives? What happened to you down there?"

_"I... I don't know..."_ Her shadow looked to the ground, her voice wavering, _"I remember... waking up in the dark. I couldn't see anyone, I couldn't hear anyone; it felt like drowning. Then, when you opened the book, I remember feeling light and, when I opened my eyes again, I saw you with the book in your hands."_

"Do you remember how long you were down there?"

_"I don't know. It felt like a few days, but it could've been years for all I know."_

Years. Annahvi contemplated the word silently. Years trapped in the darkness, years lost and confused, years without a single person to talk to. And for what? Because people are scared? Because they don't like what they don't understand? Maybe Templar_Adaephon wanted to do the right thing, but Annahvi couldn't possibly force Isis to relive years of isolation. The shadow looked to her in confusion, and Annahvi smiled.

"Templar_Adaephon's wrong." she said boldly, "I'm not going to just burry this book or lock it away for the next hundred years."

_"Annahvi..."_

"Look, I don't know everything about you, and you don't know everything about me; I'm fine with that. I'm not going to back down, just because things get strange or scary. You're my friend, and I plan to treat you like one."

Isis looked at the Elf with tears beginning to form in the corners of her big bright eyes. Without any warning, she practically tackled Annahvi in a hug, crying into her shoulder.

_"A-Annahvi... Do... Do y-you really mean it?"_

"Of course," she spoke softly and stroked her head comfortingly.

"Annahvi!" Honeydew called out as he and the others reached the bottom, "Look what we found!"

Xephos dug through his belongings and showed the Elf another map. It looked like a large hand in the middle of the desert.

"This map is supposed to connect the first and third map together," he explained, "So we go past this hand and X marks the spot."

"Fantastic!" she laughed victoriously.

"I guess we venture through the breach!" Knight_Peculier noted as they left the tower.

"Let's go!" Xephos cheered as they ventured into the desert. As luck would have it, the four of them encountered the worst possible combination of monsters. An Enderman and Creeper.

"ENDERMAN!" Honeydew screamed in terror before running in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Because Minecraft was created by a Swede, I decided to base Annahvi off of Norse Mythology. She is an Elf Maiden, a creature that looks quite normal in comparison to a human. They don't have pointed ears and age with time, but the most distinctive trait of all Norse elves is a hole in their backs. All elves have a hole in the middle of their back, which looks like rotting flesh, a tree, or a well. Of course, Xephos and Honeydew panicked when she explained this to them, but they have to simply trust her word. Elves are very self-conscious about their backs, and if a human sees it without permission it'll result in pain. I will probably write a short story describing how Xephos and Honeydew met Annahvi, though that may have to wait for a while. Happy Thanksgiving!**


	44. Chapter 38

"Okay, guys!" Honeydew said once the three of them saved the Dwarf from the nearby Enderman, "Are you ready for this? I mean business! I've put my trousers back on, I've got me gear!"

"Good! Okay," Xephos agreed as they joined not too far from the breach in The Wall.

"We're gonna hit that desert, we're gonna cause some havoc on Israphel. I've got a big mace in my hands!"

"I'm excited! Let's do this!" the Space Man dug through this belongings and took out the first of the three maps. "So that map says to go straight through that wall, which is no longer there."

"Well there's still a wall, it's just- it's just got a ruddy, great, big hole in it."

"And there's a few monsters," Xephos noted as they began to head towards The Desert, "But we can handle those no problem."

"Heroes..." Knight_Peculier said, stopping the three in their tracks.

"Oh goodness," Honeydew groaned as they all turned back to join him, "what now?"

"What is it, Knight_Peculier."

"Before we venture into The Desert, make sure you have some water."

And with that, the knight handed each of the adventurers a few bottles of water. As they each thanked him softly, Annahvi turned to Xephos and noticed a decent-sized gash on his right shoulder. Must have been from a skeletal archer, she thought.

"Hey, Lewis." she began, searching through her bag, "You're shoulder's bleeding. Here, let me-"

"Ah, that's okay," the Space Man interrupted with a nervous chuckle, "I don't really need the magic healing and stuff..." However, his voice trailed off when he noticed Annahvi was looking at him in confusion.

She revealed a roll of bandages and some cotton from her bag, and handed them to him "You can keep them if you want; I have extra in my bag."

"Oh..."

"The desert is a dangerous place heroes..." Knight_Peculier continued, "I am an old man... Promise me this; If I fall ill, then you must go one without me."

"We promise!" Xephos answered, but the three of them were obviously unnerved by their friend's request.

"Knight_Peculier," Annahvi looked at him in a mix of concern and chastisement, "Nothing bad is going to happen to any of us, alright? We're going to be just fine."

He looked to meet her determined smile with a firm nod. "Come then!" he said, heading off into The Desert, "Our destiny awaits!"

The sun rose high in the air as they ventured past the breach in the wall and entered into The Desert.

"It broke through the wall..." Knight_Peculier muttered in concern as they examined the damaged barrier. The three wondered how sand could possibly break through a cobblestone wall, but soon decided that it was best that the question remained unanswered. Due to the lack of any plants, save for the occasional cactus, there weren't many monsters to fight against, and the ones that roamed the sands were easily spotted in the bleached desert.

"There's a lot of weird shapes out there, in The Desert." Honeydew muttered as he looked out to the distance, taking note of the strange sandstone formations. "I'm not sure I like it." Xephos turned to his Dwarf friend with a slight curiosity before walking back in the vague direction the maps provided.

As he did so, his eyes came across a strange black figure in the distance. The view of the object was partially obstructed due to a massive hill of sand, but Xephos knew that it held a great significance. Whilst he and his friends began to walk towards the strange shape, Honeydew continued to talk.

"You know how some people say, 'It's a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there'?"

"Yeah...?" Xephos answered, shooting a nearby spider with his enchanted bow.

"This isn't even a nice place to visit."

The Space Man laughed as he fired another arrow at the spider, piercing its skull and causing the monster to burst into flames.

"I think we're heading towards this hand," he said, collecting the leftover arrows. "'Cause this is the hand that's on the map. Look,"

He handed Honeydew the map, but the Dwarf was too focused on the actual figure. He laughed nervously as he took the map in his hands, "Oh this can't be good... This can't be good. No good will come of this."

_"I agree with Honeydew," _Isis warned Annahvi, _"Are we going to investigate that thing?"_

"Well that's what the maps say," Annahvi shrugged as they drew closer to the massive black hand.

"My guess it's a giant, buried statue, or possibly a giant robot, or a titan - an old god..." The Dwarf continued to talk continuously as Knight_Peculier examined the back of the massive hand, and Xephos walked to the front to examine the palm.

Upon closer inspection, the heroes realized the hand was actually made of iron with occasional bars connecting the enormous plates. Most of the metal was rusted and corroded from a combination of wind and sand, but small patches of the hand looked brand new.

"What is this thing..." Annahvi muttered under her breath, running one hand over surprisingly cool the metal plates.

_"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" _Isis asked, almost hiding behind the Elf.

"I don't think we have any other options..."

"I can see something inside!" Knight_Peculier called out, suddenly, and quickly the three heroes gathered around their friend, right in front of an arrow of iron bars.

"Can you?" Xephos asked, slowly excavating more and more of the sand with Honeydew. He past the wall of iron bars and, true to Knight_Peculier's word, could see a single glass monitor, glowing bright green.

"Yeah, there's some monitors in there," he muttered as they carefully made their way into the apparently hollow hand.

Upon stepping inside the metal figure, Xephos instantly noticed an array of signs aligned on the opposite wall, which also opened up to a staircase leading deeper into the strange metal chamber.

"Templar_Enoch..." Xephos read in a mix of confusion and fascination.

_Templar_Enoch Personal Log: Day 1_

_My study of the corrosive sand has led me to this half-buried ruin in the middle of The Desert. I must learn why the highest concentration of strange sand occurs here. While I'm at it, I would also like to debug Griswold's theory that a giant robot army is buried underneath The Desert! What nonsense. In any case, I must find the answer, or Lastwatch Hold will be under threat of being buried in the sand._

_- Enoch_

"Well, we know that one of those things has already happened," Xephos stated, referring to the destroyed bastion the heroes had uncovered in The Desert, "Griswold, as well, is involved somehow..."

As Honeydew cheered over the name of Professor Griswold, the four carefully climbed down the set of stairs, finding another cluster of sands at the end of the stairway.

"More text... and some sand," Xephos muttered as they gathered around the entry.

_Day 2: Strange. As we dig away the sand, we are finding more and more metal. Griswold swears that as we dig, the metal is coming back! Another stupid theory. Must lean how dangerous this sand it! Could it spread like a virus to change the entire world to sand?_

_- Enoch_

"I like the sign off!" Xephos laughed as they continued through the corridor.

"Why does he sign off all of his messages?" Honeydew asked, following right behind his friends.

"I don't know. It's quite warm, though. I like it."

As they reached a small room filled with monitors and switches, the next entry appeared on the nearby wall. It was much shorter, but the adventurers couldn't be certain if that was good or not.

_Day 3: I had a very disturbing dream last night. Can the sand also affect people? I must remember to wear gloves from now on._

_- Enoch_

The control room provided little assistance in the heroes' quest, with only an empty chest to store the miscellaneous object they had gathered during their travels. With their bags somewhat lighter, they continued down to the end of a narrow hallway. It appeared to split in two, with the path on the right leading deeper into the strange labyrinth, and the path to the left leading to a small bedroom with a long line of signs that covered the walls.

"Griswold's Personal Log!" Honeydew read aloud, happily.

_To those that find this; Enoch is wrong! He is obsessed with the sand, but the real threat is staring him in the face! Today I went back to the surface. The metal ruin has started to regrow! I can now see fingers and a hand! Are the legends true? What is buried here? Whatever it is, I am scared to dig deeper. I will try to convince Enoch, but if he does not believe me, then I will be forced to leave him here._

_- Griswold_

Xephos reread the words over and over again. "So Griswold was here as well and..."

"He saw this sort of structure grow out of the sand..." Honeydew finished, turning to follow the path on the right, "How weird."

"So was this all more sand before, and now it's sort of turned to metal since they dug it out? Or what? I don't know..."

"I think so..." Honeydew agreed as they left the pathway and entered a fairly larger complex of corridors, "Oh God, it's a bit dusty down here..."

They looked around the room in curiosity, and as they did so, Xephos spotted another entry of Enoch's journal to the left of them.

"There's another message here," he alerted his friends to the nearby wall, "Yeah this one's not... This doesn't look good."

_Day 4: Argued with Griswold. He left, the coward. My supplies are plentiful, but my canteen is always empty. I'm worried the sand y be affecting me. My throat is always dry. Must find the secret of the sand. It cannot be much further. I will continue excavating and cleaning out the sand._

_- Enoch_

"Oh God," Xephos sighed as they searched the room, he examined a monitor surrounded by dusty cobwebs. "What the crap is all this stuff? 'Ovolo-Mecha Actuater'... What do you think it is?"

"Ugh, God." Honeydew shuddered as his friend parted the cobwebs, "Don't go down there, Lewis. It looks horrible."

"KP is just, like, bedazzled by this whole thing. He's not said a single word." Xephos noted, approaching their friend, who was busy examining some of the machinery across the room. "I'm not sure he really knows what's going on."

He faced the distressed knight in concern, "Are you okay?"

Knight_Peculier turned to Xephos nervously with a weak smile. "I'm okay; I am scared, though."

After doing a quick scan through the room for any more clues, they continued left the room and entered a strange sight. The metal floor began to slowly disappear, being replaced by ice, snow, stone, and gravel. Within a few meters of walking, there wasn't a single hint of metal or equipment. Vines danged from the walls above, and farther down the path they could see several jets of water pour into an open cavern, collecting in a small pool on the ground.

After dealing with a handful of monsters, Honeydew turned to the center of the room and was shocked to see a small cluster of furniture and a bed, along with a brew-stand and another journal page.

_Day 5: This ruin was silent before, but now there are noises all around. I swear that someone else is here. Several of my research notes are missing. Saw the pale-faced man in my sleep again._

_- Enoch_

Xephos shuddered as he finished reading the last sentence. "That is a weird note. Hang on a second; let me read that again..." His eyes scanned over the note once more and grimaced.

"Ice..." Knight_Peculier examine the cavern in confusion, "Under the sand?"

From their the journey got even stranger. The stone tunnel even opened up into another second of the massive metal being. It was much more spacious than the previous rooms, and a strange erie green liquid flowed from a set of glass pipes on either side of the room. Two stone staircases bot lead to a room up above, and all around them were monitors, machines, and signs. On the other side of the room, there was another cluster of signs. The first thing Xephos noticed as a single wood written in a bright red. Leaving Honeydew to read the note aloud, Xephos, Annahvi, and Knight_Peculier continued to search around the room, and climbed the stairs to the upper room; the 'Manual Control Headquarters'.

The room was quite small, with a large glass window leading to the outside and a set of levers, along with a few monitors.

"I don't like this at all..." Knight_Peculier shuddered as they examined the tiny room. Outside, they could hear Honeydew reading the note.

_Day 8: My tools are blunt. Fingernails dig quicker. Ink for notes is running out. Testing shows _**_blood_**_ is a reasonable substitute for ink. I should have more than enough._

_- Enoch_

A cold chill came over the adventurers, and as they examined the words, Xephos looked down the corridor and noticed bright red words printed next to a small waterfall of the green substance.

"I've noticed there's a sign written entirely in red 'ink'."

"Oh my God, what?!" Honeydew shuddered as they examined the signs.

**_An exposed rivulet of radioactive green fluid! I have taken a sample... Hmm. Perhaps I should have worn gloves... but no, my beautiful sandstone hands should not be hidden away._**

**_- Enoch_**

Their descent into the underground quickly became more and more unsettling. The ground could change between metal, , sand, and stone occasionally, the vines from above became more tangled, and the walls were practically covered in spiderwebs. In one particular room, they found a rambling note written completely in blood.

**_I have been shown what is to come and know what has been. The Sentinels call for freedom. The lifeblood green, Once flowing from old wounds has begun to clot, Healing, Rebuilding! it fights the sand. The sand forgets. Too old, and now weak, its power is turned on the innocent by an master. The Sentinels awaken_**

"So what's that all about?" Xephos asked as they left the room, "Um... Did you get- That was kind of gibberish, I didn't really get that at all, actually. I think he's raving a bit."

"It doesn't bode well," Honeydew agreed.

"Israphel is turning the sands!" Knight_Peculier explained to his friends, "Does this mean the sand was good?"

"He's turning the sands...?"

As Knight_Peculier reached the end of a particularly narrow pathway, Xephos turned to read another note. He shuddered as he finished the first sentence.

**_I am barely lucid now, my thoughts are not my own, but I see now that Griswold was right. The sand is not evil, it is a prison for these dark machinations. So... itchy. My bones... They are so itchy! Like buzzing insects under my skin..._**

**_Only relief... only solution ...is..._**

**_...removal._**

Annahvi scanned the words over and over again in a mix of fear and confusion.

"What the hell..."

_"Annahvi," _Isis began nervously, _"Um... there's something in the next room._ _You may not want to see it, though..."_

"Oh my god," Knight_Peculier gasped, "I'm going to be sick!"

It was then that Annahvi noticed a thick scent of iron in the air. She heard Honeydew scream in absolute horror as Xephos recoiled in disgust.

Blood covered the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. The sickening odor of decayed flesh wafted from the room and mingled with the scent of aged. Rotted flesh were strewn across the room and onto some of the walls, as blood-stained bones and limbs were scattered on the floor. A pearly-white skull, barely touched by the blood, stared back at the heroes with a warped smile.

Annahvi felt her stomach lurch forward, and she quickly covered her mouth. Within seconds, she was on the cold floor alongside Honeydew, as Xephos and Knight_Peculier examined the bloody remains in horror.

"He removed his bones?!" Knight_Peculier asked, mostly to himself rather than to the others, "That is disgusting..."

The Elf stood up, her face bright with embarrassment, and began to dig through her belongings until she pulled out a bottle of water.

"Are you alright?" Knight_Peculier asked.

"I'm... fine," she panted, chugging down the water and wiping her mouth with her sleeve, "I just need some fresh air... and a nap."

"Poor Enoch..." he continued, staring down a the puddle of blood. They searched through the nearby chest, finding a pipe and a single slip of paper, but there was nothing left to find in the room.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Xephos suggested.

"Okay... Gladly."

They quickly hurried out and past the room, and into a massive rift. As the three men and Isis examined a close off tunnel to the right, Annahvi examined the massive rift.

The sand, metal, and stone was replaced with planks of oak wood, so old she feared they would break at the slightest movement. The platform was surrounded by a wooden fence on a single side which opened up into the darkness of the rift. Sand, moss, and all sorts of miserable monsters dwelled in the darkness, just out of view, and the air held a disgusting sticky humidity. Below the platform, Annahvi saw the neon green glow of the radioactive liquid, surrounded by a strange black material. Bedrock? Obsidian? She wasn't too eager to find out.

Along the platform were three sets of tracks, and in a nearby chest there were a few mine carts.

"Looks like we have a ride ahead of us..." Knight_Peculier stated as Honeydew took one of the carts and placed it on a set of tracks. Xephos looked in confusion and fascination, at their surroundings before taking a mine cart from the chest and placing it onto the tracks.

"So there's three... Okay. Which one do you want to get?"

"I"ll take the middle one," Honeydew opted as Knight_Peculier sat in the right most track.

"You guys can go first," Annahvi said, taking one of the mine carts, "I'll follow right behind you, alright?"

"Okay then," Xephos nodded his head as she placed her mine cart right behind Honeydew , on the left tracks.

After a moment of confusion and technical difficulties, Xephos had managed to get all of the mine carts in place and the three men were seated relatively comfortably.

"You ready?" she asked, and they nodded. With the push of the button, the knight, Dwarf, and Space Man were rocketed down the tracks and into the darkness. After that, Annahvi carefully seated herself into her mine cart, with Isis sitting right behind her, pushed the button, and braced herself as they cart began rolling down the tracks.

The light from the torches soon grew farther and farther away, until the two were speeding through the darkness. Annahvi groaned in pain as the cart turned this way and that, occasionally colliding with a spider before turning in another direction; her sides were going to be very bruised after the ride. She watched in a mix of terror and fascination as the cart rode over a precariously balanced platform, suspended about a meter over the radioactive substance.

That's when she heard the screams.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could hear Honeydew and Xephos scream. There was the sound of an explosions, and her blood ran cold. Was it a trap? Had they fallen right into some complicated redstone trap? As her cart neared the end of the ride, she was suddenly overcome by the sense of free fall. The next thing she knew, Annahvi had toppled onto the ground, her mine cart lay overturned a few feet away. She struggled to stand up, and carefully crawled out of the strange crater, where she saw Xephos and Honeydew killing a lone zombie.

"Annahvi!" Honeydew said as they helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Xephos asked.

"I'm fine..." she lied, feeling her stomach tighten once more. Once her mind had cleared up enough, she looked up to her friends and noticed the distress on their face.

"What happened?" she asked, "I... I heard you guys screaming, a-and suddenly there was an explosion..."

They didn't say anything as she looked over their shoulders and noticed two mine carts. She looked back to them, a sense of dread growing more and more as the seconds ticked away.

"Where's Knight_Peculier?"

They didn't say a single word. She turned to Isis; the Elf was already on the verge of breaking down.

"Isis, where is he?!"

She didn't even try to hide the anxiety in her voice, but Isis remained silent as well.

Annahvi looked amongst her three friends and screamed.

**"WHERE IS KNIGHT_PECULIER!?"**


	45. Chapter 39

"Annahvi," Xephos spoke slowly and softly with a chilling tone, though he didn't dare look at her. "Knight_Peculier's gone,"

"No..." She looked at him with fear shining bright in her eyes.

_"A part of his tracks were missing..."_

"No; you're lying," Annahvi shook her head, trying to will away the tears in her eyes.

_"There was no way for us to get to him in time,"_

"This is all some cruel joke," The Elf turned to Honeydew, who was on the verge of crying, himself.

_"He fell in; he's dead,"_

"SHUT UP!" Annahvi grabbed Xephos by the collar of his shirt.

"You're lying!" she yanked Xephos down so he forced to look her in the eye, tears streaming down her face. "You're a liar! Knight_Peculier isn't dead!"

"Annahvi," Xephos took her hands in his and removed her grip from his shirt, "Calm down,"

"You're a filthy liar!" his grip tightened on her wrists as she struggled against him, "He's not dead! He can't be dead!"

Annahvi balled her hand up into a fist and tried to punch Xephos square in the face, but with her arms restrained, all she could do was give up and cry freely. As Xephos wrapped his arms around Annahvi, running a hand through her hair, he looked to Honeydew.

"Let's go," he suggested softly.

With one final glance at the destroyed tracks, the three headed through a pair of sliding doors and deeper into the machine.

A massive vat of green liquid sat in the middle of the room and pipes hung overhead with the same strange fluid. The walls were practically decorated with bright green monitors, displaying a never-ending stream of words and numbers, though no one could understand them. But the most interesting sight in the room was a row of four signs, with a row of four levers below, and a row of four monitors below that. Next to the left-most monitor was a single sign.

"'Re-route power to bypass core CPU'," Xephos read, then looked to the levers.

"So we want to re-route the power?" Honeydew asked, "Is that the idea?"

"I have no idea," Xephos answered in all honesty, "But there's no way out of this room that I can see. Was there any other room over here?"

The three did a once-over of the room, confirming that there were no other rooms connecting to the area, and turned back to the levers.

"It looks important," the Space Man said, examining the monitors below, "These levers look like they do something, don't they?"

He read the text handing above, one monitor claimed that the power was disabled, two stated the circuit breaker was activated, and the last one was a line of indistinguishable text, though it seemed to read 'Circuit Malfunction'. After a bit of random guessing, Xephos had activated the switches with the blank monitors, and the doors behind them slid open.

A large shell of sand and sandstone surrounded the door, but the heroes were able to easily climb over it, and into the next room, which appeared to be a massive surveillance room. Well, that was what the massive array of computer monitors were suggesting. Seeing nothing of use, they continued up a set of stairs, which lead into a rather spacious roomed filled with all sorts of strange machinery, even stranger than what they had already seen.

The first thing Honeydew noticed was a pair of vats, containing the same green slime as before, but as he turned around to examine the rest of the room, he was met face-to-face with a strange man covered in blood. Of course, the Dwarf's first reaction was to jump back then attack, but he paused in confusion when he saw that the strange man wasn't walking towards him. It was then that Honeydew realized the strange man was trapped in a glass enclosure. After recovering from the initial shock, he approached the glass case and stared at the strange man.

His skin was a terrible sickly green hue, his eyes were slightly red and glossed over with a lifeless shine. The man's appearance, combined with a bloodstained laboratory coat, suggested that the man was a zombie. While Honeydew was fixated on the detained zombie, Xephos was examining another glass chamber with another zombie, and Annahvi simply stood to the side, muttering to Isis.

Xephos turned to what looked like a second station between the two zombies, but it looked like some of the glass had been removed, the top was bright red, and there was a sign in front of the chamber. "'N-comm System Cloning Vat Defective! DO NOT ENTER'" he read aloud.

"Okay..." Honeydew said as he and Annahvi examined the open chamber, "'Coning Vat'? So you can clone people?"

"Oh!" Xephos realized, "I guess you have to go in there and people get cloned!"

"I probably don't want to go in there," Honeydew turned to Annahvi, "Do I?"

"Well it says here that this machine's defective," she said, reading the sign again, "I don't think it's a good idea. You might get blown up, or horribly mutated..."

"Yeah..." Honeydew chuckled, "I wouldn't fancy being deformed for the rest of my life. But..." he climbed into chamber slowly, "I want to see what happens, though,"

"Is there an activation thing?" Xephos asked as he examine the controls, instantly noticing a switch next to the sign 'Activate Main Cloning Vat'.

"Wait wait wait!" Annahvi said, "Aren't you at least a little concerned with what's going to happen?"

"Well," Xephos shrugged, "If anything happens we can break Simon out and keep moving,"

"That's not what I-"

"Are you ready?" Xephos laughed to Honeydew, "What could be the worst that could happen?"

The Dwarf laughed as the Space Man pulled the lever, "What could be the worst that could-"

The glass case suddenly sealed shut, trapping Honeydew inside. His two friends ran to the chamber, as his chamber quickly filled with a strange, stinging, cold fluid.

"Shit!" Annahvi hissed as she tried to break the glass, "Shit!"

"Are you okay?" Xephos yelled, "What's happened to you?"

"I don't know," his friend yelled back, "It's like I'm encased!"

"You're frozen in a block of ice,"

"This glass is too thick to just punch," Annahvi groaned, rubbing her shoulder, "Can you see any buttons or switches or anything?" She looked up to Honeydew, hoping for a good answer, but instead she saw a scared and confused expression.

"Simon? What's wrong?" She looked at him in confusion as he tried to mouth out a few words. "Simon?"

"Behind you!" he screamed, "BEHIND YOU!"

Xephos and Annahvi turned around just in time to see a pair of bodies slowly climb out of a a strange machine. They looked exactly like Honeydew, save for one minute detail; their titles read 'Evil_Honeydew'. They looked at the three for just a second, then jumped onto the ground and sprinted away.

"Go after them," Annahvi yelled, snapping Xephos out of his confused stupor, "I'll try and break Simon out of this infernal machine."

Without pause for though, Xephos nodded to Annahvi and chased after the clones, equipping his enchanted bow as he ran after them. He followed right behind the clones, weaving between the machinery and metal structures, but as he rounded a corner, he was faced with a pair of sealed doors surrounded by signs.

"Com'ere!" Xephos heard Honeydew yell, but as he rounded the corner, he paused and joined Xephos in front of the sealed doors. "I don't know how they got through that," he said, "I think they shut it behind them,"

"Well this looks pretty scary," Honeydew grumbled, noticing the traces of blood on the floor and the ominous , their contemplations were cut short by the sound of a nearby explosion. Xephos nearly fell over himself as he jumped away from the wall, before noticing the two clones' titles on the other side of the wall.

"I think they're blowing things up," Honeydew said.

"Oh shit!" Xephos groaned, "Of course they are!"

As the two were busy trying to find a way past the steel doors, Annahvi returned to the cloning machines from before. With Xephos and Honeydew out of hearing-distance, Annahvi let out a frustrated sigh.

"I warned them about this cloning shit, and what happens? They mess with it. Great, just great," Annahvi grumbled to herself, causing Isis to watch in confusion. The Elf slowly approached one of the trapped zombies with a mix of curiosity and sympathy.

"Do you think this person was already a zombie when they started cloning him?" she asked to Isis, who just shrugged. Annahvi chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it would kind of hard to tell. But still... maybe they're dead, but this weird goo is keeping their bodies fresh, or maybe they turned him into a zombie and _then_ started cloning him,"

_"Who's 'they'?"_

"I guess 'they' are the people who were controlling this place..." Annahvi shrugged, placing a hand against the glass; the zombie inside just stared at her blankly. She leaned in closer to the glass, staring back at the zombie as if the answer to life was written in his expression.

"How long have you been trapped here?" she asked, smiling sadly.

She placed both of her hands on the glass and took in a deep breath. Before her very eyes, the glass began to slowly crumble away into a small pile of sand. She slowly stood back from the non-existent chamber as the zombie slowly stumbled off of the platform, dazed and confused. It turned to Annahvi and instantly began growling and snarling like a wild animal, before charging strait towards her, arms outstretched and teeth bared. Without so much as a flinch, she grabbed the reanimated monster by its neck, careful to avoid its teeth and raised it off the ground.

"It's almost over," she whispered reassuringly, as if she was talking to a small child. She reached over with her good hand, and picked up a jagged piece of metal, about as a carving knife; a bit primitive, but it'd get the job done. The monster died with a mix between a whimper and guttural snarl, before Annahvi lowered him onto the ground then turned to the other chamber.

Meanwhile, Xephos and Honeydew were struggling to open the steel doors. They found a set of buttons on the opposite wall, and had to light up all of the redstone torches, but every time they pushed on button, the surrounding torches would go out. After a good ten minutes of struggling to figure out the pattern, Honeydew sighed and took out a few bundles of dynamite from his bag. "Oh for God's sake,"

"Oh God, okay," Xephos sighed as he backed away from the Dwarf and lit dynamite, "I'm not sure we should be blasting our way through Core Organics. It said we really ought to try and enable these things," He motioned back to the buttons and torches, but by that point the spark of the fuse had crawled its way up to the first tick of TNT.

"Oh!" Honeydew said as the two backed away from the door, "Here we go!"

The explosion wasn't as loud as Xephos feared it would be, but perhaps that was because Honeydew used a smaller amount of TNT than usual. Either way, the steel doors were pushed apart from each other and the heroes were allowed to pass through.

"Is everything alright?!" Annahvi yelled as she hurried to Xephos and Honeydew, "I heard and explosion! Is everyone safe?!"

"We're fine, don't worry," Honeydew answered, "I just needed to clear our way through the door, that's all,"

Annahvi stared at her two friend with a hollow gaze for a few minutes, and it was at the point when Xephos noticed a red liquid, so dark it was almost black, spattered across her shirt and pants. "Annahvi?" he began speaking, causing the Elf to look down, just noticing the red.

"Zombies," she explained with an irritated tone, "Let's just keep moving." The Space Man watched in worry as she strode past Honeydew and into the next room.

As they passed through a small surveillance room, they noticed two very distinct things about the little corridor leading to the next section. For one, the back wall was almost completely coated red with blood, and second, there were a few half-eaten Jaffa Cakes leading to a sliding door on the other side of the room.

The moment Xephos entered the next room, he said three words. "Oh, holy cripes!

It was hard to decide if the corridor in front of them was man-made or naturally formed. It twisted and turned in a way too overly complex to be done by man, but at the same time, the floor was constructed of blood-stained panels and glass tubing filled with the bright green liquid. In distance, the heroes could hear the sound of one of the clones, "Dig-a Dig-a Hole."

Xephos and Honeydew could help but laugh as they made their way into the tunnel. But before they could go very far, they came across what could be described as the most obvious trap in the world. A large crate of TNT was placed in plain sight, and a pair of pressure plates surrounded the crate, ready to light the fuse.

"Oh come on," Annahvi groaned, "How _stupid_ do they think we are?"

"This is ingenious!" Honeydew laughed as he jumped over the pressure plates, but he slipped and the back of his foot just managed to land on the plate, instantly igniting the TNT.

"OH BUGGER!" Honeydew yelled as Xephos and Annahvi had to run away from the lit dynamite, "OH BUGGER!"

There was the sound of an explosion, and the TNT formed a large crater in the middle of the room, causing a nearby stream of radioactive fluid to leak into the crater. Xephos groaned as he and Annahvi jumped over the small leak, but they failed to notice the broken glass tubes from above and the radioactive liquid falling from the ceiling.

"Oh!" Xephos panicked as some of the fluid fell onto his arms, "God, there's lava coming down from the ceiling," he pushed Honeydew forward, careful to avoid another obvious trap.

"I swear," Annahvi grumbled, "I think they're _trying_ to give me an ulcer,"

Isis giggled softly as she they continued down the tunnel. _"I admit, they're being quite a handful..."_

Annahvi muttered an agreement under her breath as they continued to chase after the clones, one of which was wearing a full set of armor. However, they were not able to stop the Dwarves as they ran into the next room. For the moment, Xephos was trying to shoot one of the clones while Annahvi and Honeydew were busy resting.

There was no way for Xephos to hit the clone, so once Honeydew and Annahvi had regained their breath, they stepped into the room.

The first thing Annahvi noticed as that the floor was made of some strange white material. It had a strange grain-like texture, similar wood. The second thing she noticed was that the 'floor' was rather one narrow platform stretching into the absolute middle of the room, where it branched off into several other walkways. Like the tunnel, the walls, floor, and ceiling were made of blood-red panels along with some Nether bricks and veins of radioactive fluid.

"Where are the crapping hell are we, by the way?" Xephos asked as they made their way onto the walkway.

"This is quite similar to that place we were at before," Honeydew suggested.

"Is it?"

Annahvi followed behind Xephos, not really listening to their conversation, as her attention was more directed to the room. Below them, several zombies roamed around blindly, and all of them were dressed in laboratory coats. The walkways were littered with a few monsters as well: Pigmen, spiders and zombies.

_"Hey, Annahvi!"_ Isis said as they continued climbing the walkways, _"I know what this stuff is,"_

"Yeah?" She turned to Isis before looking back ahead; the last thing she wanted was to fall off.

_"It's bone!"_

She paused for a second before looking at the white walkways underneath her feet. As crazy as it sounded, it made sense. If the robot was to rebuild itself, it would have to start with the structure. But then... why bone? Why not metal or wood? As she continued to silently question the walkway beneath her feet, she looked to the red panels. Perhaps it wasn't a robot, at least not _completely_. Or maybe it got turned _into _a robot and it's slowly turning human again. The ideas were far-fetched, but plausible. Annahvi shook her head and continued walking; she'd have to think about it later.

She headed down a small bit of ladder and into another room, this time containing red metal and steel walkways, and on the other side of the room was one of the clones, mindlessly scratching at the walls. She noticed that the Space Man and Dwarf weren't saying anything; it looks like they came up with a plan.

Xephos grabbed a Jaffa Cake from his pocket and slowly approached the clone.

"Simon!" he called out, and the clone turned around in confusion. "I have Jaffa's for you!" He showed the cake in his hand, careful not to move too quickly, and placed a few of them on the floor. To Annahvi's surprise, the clone moved away from the wall and picked up the Jaffa Cakes. Was this their plan? To gain the trust of one of the clones? That would make sense; gain the clone's trust, then get information out of him. It clear that the clones knew how to speak English, even the slightest big of information would be hel-

"Die!" Xephos cried out as he swung his diamond sword at the clone, "Die! Die!"

Annahvi watched as the two heroes killed the clone with an exasperated expression. "Well..." she began, throwing her hands into the air, "Never-fucking mind!"

"What?" Honeydew and Xephos turned to her in confusion as she brought a hand to her temples.

"N-Nothing," she grumbled, "Let's just keep moving..."

She could hear Xephos and Honeydew talking behind her, though she tried to ignore them to the best of her ability; her 'friends' were beginning to test her patience.

They climbed up a set of stairs, and to their surprise they saw a long corridor with a mine cart set up. Beside the activation button, there was a chest with two other carts. She watched as Xephos and Honeydew got into their carts and began riding off, before squeezing herself into another cart.

She pushed the button, hoping for a _long_ ride.


	46. Chapter 40

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry if this chapter is too boring or short. I've been extremely busy with other things, but I promise that the next chapter I post is going to be ****much**** more exciting. I hope you enjoy the story.**

* * *

><p>Annahvi let out an aggravated sigh escape as she slouched further into the mine cart. It looked like the cart tracks stretched on for at least a mile, which gave her plenty of time to let her temper diminish. Isis seemed to notice her friend's annoyance and chuckled.<p>

_"Are you alright?"_ she asked, trying to move around to give the Elf more space.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, "I just need some fresh air and a nap..."

The mine cart rumbled and groaned as its wheels rattled against the tracks, but it began to sound like a droning white noise. Perhaps she could rest for even a little bit before they reached the end of the tracks. Annahvi rested her head against the back of the cart and stared up at the rapidly moving ceiling. Her eyes began to slowly close shut, and her breathing came to a snail's pace. But before she could reach the heavenly oasis that was unconsciousness, there was the sound of another explosion.

The Elf instantly jolted upright and looked ahead, where the explosion seemed to have come from. In the distance she could see a large cloud of smoke beginning to settle, and a broken tube filled with the green radioactive fluid.

"Ah, shit!" Annahvi swore as her cart derailed and she collided with Xephos.

"Oh my god!" Honeydew yelled as he climbed out of the craters Evil_Honeydew had formed, "Quick! Quick! Run past the lava!"

Annahvi and Xephos crawled out of their mine carts and hurried out of the first crater and past the green fluid dripping from the ceiling. With his friends safe, Honeydew began to run after the evil clone, but he was too far along now.

"See ya later, shitlords!"

"Classy," Annahvi grumbled as she leaned against the wall for support. However, her grumbling was cut short by the sound of someone tapping on glass.

"Please!" a muffled voice called out, "Over here!"

The three heroes looked to where the voice was coming from, and were surprised to see a man in what appeared to be another cloning chamber. They couldn't properly see what he looked like, but the name above him read: Prof_Webley.

"Get me out of here!" Prof_Webley said.

The three heroes made their way over to the stranger, spouting all sorts of questions to each other.

The man was in a defective chamber, he appeared to be encased in some strange foggy gel, and there was a sign as the foot of the chamber.

_Clone 375  
>Status: CRITICAL<em>

"Please help me!" the professor looked down at the three with pleading eyes.

"How do we get him out here?" Honeydew asked.

"Through a lever," Xephos answered as he examined the nearby computer monitors. He spotted a lever underneath the screen, with a sign right beside it; Terminate Cloning Vat #375

"What's that say, 'Terminate Cloning Vat'." Xephos read the sign and smiled. "That sounds good; let's press that." He grabbed the lever and pulled down on it, sending a trail of redstone dust alight.

"Doesn't that mean 'kill'?" Honeydew asked.

Before anybody could answer his question, there was a small explosion right beside the heroes. The chamber adjacent Prof_Webley was destroyed in an explosion, though the man seemed to sustain some injury from the shockwave.

"Oh good job," the Dwarf's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Well done, Lewis. Well done!"

"Well what else is there to press here?" Xephos asked as he began searching the area.

"Just do it the normal way; just bash through."

Honeydew gripped his maced and swung at the glass case. It cracked and shattered, and Prof_Webley was free to escape from the chamber. He shakily stepped out of the chamber, and had to lean on Annahvi for support.

The poor man looked like he had been through a war of some sort. His shit and pants were nothing but tatters, his skin was a sickly pale, and his eyes were tired and bloodshot. It looked like he had a broken helmet on his head, and the back of his shirt had the Crimson Cross.

"Thank you!" the man sighed, "I though I was done for! My name is Webley Grizwold, and I hail from Lastwatch Hold."

The man gave a sickly cough before looking up to the heroes, who were still in shock by his last name. "Excuse me," Prof_Webley apologized, "I am feeling very ill."

"Are you _the_ Professor Grizwold?" Xephos asked.

"I am a proud member of the Grizwold family!" the man explained, though the Space Man had already left to explore the rest of the room, "My grandfather, Horatio Grizwold, was a great adventurer. But I fear I will never match his achievements. He was looting hidden tombs with Verigan was just a baby! But I can barely stand and haven't eaten in days. I fear I am done for - I need a healer urgently."

"Annahvi," Honeydew turned to her, "You're a healer, aren't you? Use that weird magic stuff you used on me."

"No no no no no," Xephos interrupted, handing the professor a few Jaffa Cakes, "No magic stuff until we're out of this robot."

As Prof_Webley scarfed down the small cakes, Xephos and Honeydew continued to look around the area. Annahvi watched with irritation as they started giggling at a set of nearby signs. After a few moments, Prof_Webley tried to walk forward, but his legs instantly gave out and he fell to his hands and knees. Annahvi helped the man up, all the while the two other men were looking around and laughing at some of the signs and the nearby cloning tools and a small hole with a set of tracks.

"Thank you," Prof_Webley smiled at her, "but please, we need to get out of here, you will need to help me!"

Something about seeing the man in such a pathetic state began to pull at her heartstrings. "Of course, Webley." she nodded her head and began to help him out of the area.

"Can we trust this guy?" Honeydew asked as they began to head for the cart tracks, "Is he okay?"

Prof_Webley looked up to the Dwarf in confusion, but his eyes widened and he began to shake when he saw the hole, which was labeled 'Fresh Clone Exit Hole'. "The horrors I've seen come from that hole..."

"How are we gonna help him get out?" Xephos asked as they reached the corridor. Prof_Webley slowly leaned off of Annahvi and began to walk towards a small chest beside the tracks. He nearly fell on top of the chest, but Annahvi quickly helped him open the chest and pulled out what was inside; a single mine cart, which Annahvi linked to the tracks. Prof_Webley lowered himself into the mine cart and began to move forward, though he didn't have enough power to continue moving. Honeydew followed behind the professor and pushed the cart forward.

"Quickly!" Prof_Webley urged the three, "we must escape!"

Annahvi had to resist bashing her face into the wall when she saw her friends 'helping' Prof_Webley. Ever so often, his mine cart would get stuck or slow down, so Honeydew would give the man a push forward. Of course, Prof_Webley would just slow down again, then the Dwarf would walk to him and give the cart another half-hearted push.

"It's like a wheelchair, isn't it?" he laughed, "C'mon now. C'mon Prof_Webley, it's time for your excursion."

"I can hardly remember how I got here." Prof_Webley began, "I was sleeping in my tent in the desert, but one night I had a terrible nightmare..."

Of course, while Honeydew was jokingly pushing the mine cart and listening to the professor's story, he failed to notice a bright green Creeper walking right up to him. As expected of the Dwarf, he instantly began to run away, letting the monster explode right in front of Prof_Webley.

Annahvi looked at her friends in disgust as they laughed.

Xephos and Honeydew struggled to fix the broken tracks, and once they mended one gap, they had to face yet another.

"There are track repair supplies in the chest." Prof_Webley informed the heroes.

"Look," Annahvi finally spoke up, "I'll get the supplies and fix the tracks. You two just keep pushing Webley and actually _protect_ him."

"Can do," Xephos chuckled, though his laugh only made her more irritated. She ran back to the nearby chest and flung it open.

Isis watched as the Elf muttered insults under her breath and shoved supplies into her bag.

"Alright," Annahvi groaned as she ran back to her friends and began rapidly placing down track after track, just in time for Prof_Webley to cross.

"I'm afraid that Creeper injured my leg and I am unable to walk," he informed the three. They continued down the corridor, killed a spider hanging from above, and reached a long flight of stairs.

Annahvi climbed ahead and began placing torches and tracks down, and smiled when Prof_Webley's cart began to rocket up the tracks. However, her heart dropped into her stomach when his cart got derailed and Honeydew had to hop up the stairs and push the man up onto the rails.

"I'll tell ya what," Honeydew panted heavily, "If we get up to the top and I find that there's just a lift, I'm gonna be furious."

A small smirk formed on Annahvi's face when he said this, but the humor was cut short when Prof_Webley once again started riding up the powered tracks, to the top of the stairs, and turned down an unknown corner.

"Where's he going?" Honeydew asked as they climbed up to the top of the stairs, but thankfully he was simply resting on some unpowered rails.

"You're so strong, Dwarf." Prof_Webley laughed, as Honeydew continued to push him down the tracks, "I am lucky you three came along!"

Finally, the tracks simply ended, and the four were in a strange area. Xephos looked around the room in complete confusion.

"Where the hell are we now?"

A portion of the ceiling was made up of several metal pipes, which would explain the massive amount of sand in the middle of the room, and he noticed a few tubes with the green goo. He stood atop the hill of stand and saw what appeared to be a little control room.

"This looks kind of familiar..."

"This is like a space ship," Honeydew said as he turned to read several screens and signs behind him. Xephos and Honeydew began wander around the room in a mix of curiosity and confusion, but Annahvi stayed behind to make sure Prof_Webley was safe; right now he was the only person she didn't want to impale.

"During my nightmare..." Prof_Webley said, "A pale-faced man was looking over me... and then I woke up here."

"Ugh..." Annahvi shuddered, "Of course it would be Israphel..."

"I have been trapped her for months, frozen in that infernal machine..."

"So... Blimey." Xephos sighed as he stood atop the sand dune, "Right, what next? Where the hell do we go from here?" He looked around the room once more and stared up at the fenced ceiling, which seemed to have sand covering the top. Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of water falling down from above, and his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh!" he called out to his friends, "God! I can actually see rain coming down above!"

"I can hear it!" Honeydew added, "I only just noticed I can actually hear the rain."

"I have no clue where we are," Prof_Webley sighed as Annahvi helped him up the stairs to the control room, "but I recognize you three."

"Really?" Xephos asked, "We are _very_ famous!"

"The lackeys of the pale-faced man described the three 'annoyances', a Dwarf, an Elf, and a man..."

"Oh... right..." Xephos sighed.

"A man not of this world..." he continued, "Though you look normal enough to me... How did you find me?

"We're here on a quest to save Minecraftia," Xephos explained. "We're following this map."

Honeydew dug through his pockets and handed the taped map to the professor. He also pulled out another faded map, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Do you remember this map as well?" he asked Xephos, "I've got a map that's, like... it's this green rectangle in the desert."

"Oh! Let's have a look."

Xephos took the map from his friend and he too looked at the map in confusion.

In the middle of the paper was a rather large rectangle-shaped mix of green and blue, and right below it was the dashed trail they were supposed to follow.

"Where did you get this map from?" he asked his friends, "I can't remember this one; where the hell is this supposed to be?"

Meanwhile, Annahvi noticed Prof_Webley's shocked expression as his hands began to shake.

"This map... it... where did you get this?"

"It belonged to Verigan." Xephos answered, "We are following it to the Tomb of... somewhere."

"Of course!" the professor exclaimed, "It is the key! The map to the Tomb of the Templar Kings! It shows what we have been looking for all this time!"

"Right..."

"We are near the surface and will make it no further inside this machine, you must dig!" Annahvi led him into the control room, where there was a small hill of sand, "I can hear the rain as it falls on this wretched cursed sand.

As Xephos and Honeydew began to make their way out of the control room, Annahvi seated Prof_Webley down and looked to her friends.

Well, hopefully getting outside and some fresh air would help calm her nerves.


	47. Chapter 41

Honeydew and Xephos looked up to the raining sky as they finally climbed out of the robot and into the desert. The sky was already a pitch black, and sand beneath them was becoming a muddy mix underneath their feet, and rain was boring down heavily.

"Oh..." Prof_Webley muttered as Annahvi helped him out of the robot, "I fear this is hardly better than down in that horror..."

"Yeah, we are getting _soaked_," Xephos agreed, "Let's build a shelter. Or shall we just go back down into the hole until it's morning?"

"I will have to wait for you here," Prof_Webley leaned against a large hill of sand, and shook his head, "I can't bear the thought of going back into that place..."

"I've got some stuff;" Honeydew shrugged as he dug through his belongings, "I can build a really nice house..."

He grabbed a mix of different materials and began to form a makeshift hut.

"A shelter!" Prof_Webley smiled, "What a wonderful idea!"

To say the least, it was very small, but at least it would keep them safe from the rain. Xephos began clearing out some of the sand, so they could actually go inside the little shack.

"While you build that, I will tell you my story."

With the sand cleared out, Xephos exited and shelter and back into the rain. He began to try and talk to his friends, but froze when he saw a Creeper, its light brown skin mixed in with the sand perfectly. He began to run away from the monster, but paused when he noticed that it wasn't chasing after him; it was stalking his friends.

"Oh God, there's a Creeper behind you Simon!" Xephos called out to his friends. The Dwarf only had a moment to look up from his shelter before the Creeper exploded, forming a giant crater in the sand. Annahvi and Prof_Webley were pushed back by the shock, but Honeydew had fallen into the crater.

"Webley," he called out, "Are you okay?"

"My shelter!" the man cried, referring to the half-destroyed shack.

"Oh no!" Honeydew laughed with Xephos, "I'm sorry!"

"Wow," the Space Man chuckled as they tried to rebuild the shelter.

"It'll be okay," the Dwarf reassured, "It'll be okay, hang in there, buddy. This is... This is the shit-ist building I've ever seen!" Xephos and Honeydew laughed as they tried to salvage the house.

"There we go, Webley," Honeydew joked, "You'll be... dry as a bone and cosy..."

Xephos and Prof_Webley stood inside the shelter while Honeydew and Annahvi began repairing the shelter.

"Do you have a place for me to lay down?" the professor asked.

Xephos looked at him in exasperation, "Do you see many sheep in this desert?!"

"I can hardly lay down on a sheep, Space Man!" Prof_Webley laughed, both of them completely unaware of the strange hissing noise right beside them. There was another explosion, destroying the hasty repairs to the shelter, and a spider began to crawl towards them.

"I'm starting to think this isn't the safest location for a shelter." Honeydew said as he began swinging his mace. Once the spider was dead, he stepped away from the shelter and burst out laughing. "Look at this building... Oh God - it's awful! It's not our best build."

A zombie began to make its way into the shack and tried to claw at Xephos, but he and his friends were able to quickly destroy the monster.

"Jeez," Xephos sighed as he looked back to the robot, "Look, let's just get back in the head. Let's just get back in the head."

"It's probably safer than being out here in the rain," Annahvi agreed, once again helping Prof_Webley down the sand and back into the building.

"When the sands began to cover Lastwatch, we ventured out to investigate the desert." he explained, "We thought it would tell us how to stop the sand, but what we uncovered was far more terrible. The sand is simply a defense system, put in place to keep these terrible machines rusted and broken. If they ever awake, then the world is surely doomed. The templars defeated the machines before, and with your map, we can discover how they managed to do it. Anyway, you must hurry, time is short."

"Okay, Webley," Xephos agreed as they began to head out of the robot, "Stay here! Okay... Actually, where the hell are we going? Has he got any direction for us other than 'Run into the desert'? Where are we going?"

"I've got a map. I don't really understand it, though," Honeydew said, handing the Space Man the pieces, "Do you want to have a look at it?"

Xephos took the different map pieces, but they weren't helping him at all.

"Here," Annahvi said, "Give me the maps and I'll try and figure out where we are."

"I will wait for you here," Prof_Webley said as Annahvi tried to piece the maps together, "Do not go into the cactus forest, it is far too dangerous."

With that warning, the three stepped out of the robot and into the desert, which was now becoming brighter with the rising sun. Xephos looked to their abandoned shelter, and noticed a large field of cactus not too far from them.

"What, this cactus forest over here?"

"Okay..."

"So do we want to go into the cactus forest, or do we not want to go into the cactus forest?"

"Head out and to your right," Prof_Webley called out, "Towards that old dragon skeleton."

"I'm sorry?" Honeydew asked, "The 'dragon skeleton'?!"

But neither of his friends paid any mind and began walking off into the raining desert.

"I can't se anything to the right at all," Xephos said, "Can you? God... this weather is abysmal."

"It's brightening up, Lewis." Honeydew said optimistically, "It's brightening up."

Sure enough, the rain began to grow lighter and lighter, until finally the clouds began to part, letting the sun dry the desert.

"Oh God," Xephos muttered, "We're not gonna survive for long in this desert if we're not careful."

The three looked across the desert for any sign of a dragon skeleton, but all they could see were hills and hills of sand.

"Oh!" Honeydew alerted his friends as he headed north, "Now there is sort of a sandy..."

"Escarpment up here," Xephos finished for the Dwarf. He began to climb up the sand. "Let's get some height, and then we'll be able to see, won't we?"

"Ah," the Dwarf nodded his head, "That's a good idea; take the high ground."

So the three heroes climbed up to the top of the large hill, and instantly Xephos saw a massive set of bones; too big to belong to any animal.

"Okay, I think this is it here,"

"Can you see something that looks like it might be a dragon skeleton?" Honeydew asked, still climbing up the sand.

"Yes, yes."

Annahvi and Honeydew reached the top of the cliff and stared at the skeletal remains in shock. The Elf instantly ran to the skeleton's tail and began to slowly walk towards the head, imagining the dragon in all its breathing gory. When she finally reached the head, she noticed that some of it's skull water covered in sand. Meanwhile, the Space Man and Dwarf weren't too interested in the skeleton; they were interested in the stranger in the distance.

"Shiplord...Hubert."

"Hubert?" asked as they approached the damaged ship, Annahvi running to catch up with them, "Are you sure it's 'Hubert'? Cause that looks like a French flag up there..."

Honeydew pointed to the top of the mast, and a ragged French flag waved to them in the wind.

"So is this the remains of a boat?" Xephos asked as he looked at the ship from the side.

"Yeah... It's kind of half-jutting out."

Xephos climbed up the tilted deck, and a little wooden door was place next to the mast. "Uh... Hello?"

"Ahhhrrrgh!" a voice yelled from behind the door, "Get away from me ship, ye monsters of the sand!"

"Right... um... We mean you no harm!"

"Stay back, or I'll 'it ya with mon baguette."

The two looked at him in shock, before Honeydew finally stepped into the ship.

"I mean you no harm," he said slowly, "I am a Dwarf of Khaz Modan."

"Arrggghhh!" Shiplord_Hubert grumbled.

"Um... throw him some beer or something," Xephos suggested, "Frenchmen like beer too..."

Honeydew dug through his belongings and pulled out a small hip flask. He put in on the ground, and the three watched in curiosity.

"Ale?" Shiplord_Hubert gasped, taking a large swig from the flask, "Zut alors! You're not the monsters after all."

He happily approached the three, but paused when he saw Xephos and Annahvi with the Skylord goggles.

"Goggles? Ye be Skylords? Pish! I'm a Shiplord!"

"Oh! He's like a Skylord!" Honeydew said in realization, "Oh! I get it now!"

"We hate zose fancy Skylords with those crazy flying contraptions. But a Dwarf is always a friend to the Shiplords. Bwah!" the Frenchman sighed, "I was just sailin', mindin' my own business, when all of a sudden..."

"'All of a sudden' what?" Xephos asked, leaning in closer.

"WHOOSH!" Skylord_Hubert yelled, causing the Space Man to stumble back, "Me ship got swept up by a whirlpool! Ended up 'ere."

"It could've been worse," Honeydew suggested.

"Do you know anything about healing?" Xephos asked, "Our friend is poorly."

"Oh no!" Shiplord_Hubert gasped, though his expression showed that he was trying to think things through. "I may." he finally said, "Before I crash, I saw a vision of 'eaven. An oasis in zee desert, with loads of water and animals! But eet's too hot and dangerous for moi outside! I can't make it on me own!

"Take moi avec tu!"

Honeydew and Xephos burst out into laughter while Annahvi just gave him a look of disbelief.

"Wait, what? Surely not..." Honeydew chuckled.

"Sure..." Xephos laughed, "We would love to go there! That sounds lovely actually, an oasis- Oh! Annahvi! Show him the map!

She looked up at him with a blank expression before turning to Shiplord_Hubert and showing him the map with the green and blue. "Is this it?"

The Shiplord examined the map in confusion, and gradually his eyes widened and he smiled. "Oui! Zat loos like eet!"

"Great!" Xephos smiled, "Let's go! Lead on, Shiplord!"

"I do not know zee way!"

"Oh good," Xephos sighed as they stepped out, "Oh good, and the sun is going down again..."

"Can we not see from up here, for a vague sort of direction to go?" Honeydew asked as he climbed towards the bow.

"Let's have a look up here," Xephos shrugged as the three joined the Dwarf.

The bow of the ship provided a better view of the sands below, but sadly there didn't appear to be any sign of an oasis, at least not nearby. The only thing of interest was a massive arch made of sand and sandstone.

"Well there's this massive arch here," Xephos began, "That looks like a suspicious landmark, and I can't see anything else. And we have been going this way. So, I suggest we check the archway out."

Seeing no other option, the four climbed down from the boat and began walking towards the archway.

"By the way," Xephos turned to Annahvi and she crossed over a small gap, "Did you figure out where we are exactly,"

"No. Keep moving."

He looked at her in confusion as she kept walking on, not even bothering to look back at him. He rolled his eyes with shrug.

When they reached the archway, they were shock with what they saw. The desert opened up into a small chasm filled with the same bright green they saw in the robot. Metal stretched up from the chasm and crawled its way to the top of the chasm, and wooden catwalks with tracks twisted and curved over the gel.

"This isn't an oasis, Lewis." Honeydew stated.

"This is the opposite of the oasis," Xephos said in agreement.

Annahvi looked down at the metal and wood in disgust.

"Eet is the wrong shade of green!" Skylord_Hubert spoke up.

"Yeah..." the Space Man muttered, "It's radioactive; don't swim in it."

He, Annahvi, and Honeydew began to walk past the chasm, but Xephos spared a glance behind and saw Shiplord_Hubert's title behind a small section of sand. He arched his brow in confusion and they headed back to the Frenchman. When the reached him, they realized that Shiplord_Hubert had fallen onto a ledge below.

"Are you okay?" Honeydew called down.

"Halp!" the Shiplord replied.

"Ugh," Xephos sighed, "I don't have anything to make ladders. Annahvi, do you have anything to use?"

No response.

"Annahvi?" He turned back to the Elf, but was surprised to see her walking off. He looked at her in disbelief before groaning. "Simon," he turned to the Dwarf, "Try and get Shiplord_Hubert out of there, I need to talk to Annahvi."

"Okay." his friend nodded.

With that, Xephos ran after Annahvi.

"Annahvi!" he called out, "Wait a second!" She didn't stop walking, though she did slow down some. Finally, Xephos reached Annahvi; he looked at her in a mix of frustration and concern. "What's going on with you?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder, but Annahvi turned to him and smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me!" she snapped, looking at him with eyes that burned with hatred. Xephos looked at her in shock before he glared. Dammit, he thought, now wasn't the time for a hissy fit!

"What is your problem?" he finally said, though Annahvi only scoffed.

"Right now, you are - you _and_ Simon!" Annahvi spat, "You guys never take anything seriously; you're always goofing off and because of that we always getting in trouble. I'm sick of it!"

Xephos scoffed, "You're being ridiculous; you're acting like you're the only one who can set things right, but the truth is you need our help just as much as we need you."

"You don't need me. I try and help you and you just push me away. Ever since I told you about the book you've treated me like some sort of disease!"

"Can you blame me?! How else was I supposed to react when my friend tell me that she's been using magic? You were lying through your teeth ever since you left the Archives,"

"You could've been more understanding," her face was bright red in a mix of rage and heat exhaustion, "It's not as though I _enjoyed_ lying to your face, but I only did so because I wanted to avoid conversations just like this!"

"Well great job there,"

Annahvi looked at him in shock, "Are you mocking me?!"

Xephos didn't say anything else; she groaned in frustration and stomped off. He sighed and followed after her.

"Annahvi, just wait a second!" He grabbed her arm and suddenly she stiffened.

"I said, don't touch me!"

With that, Xephos felt something grab his ankle. He looked down and froze when he saw a clawed hand made entirely of sand. His grip on Annahvi vanished as he tried to remove the hand, but another one sprouted up from the sand and grabbed his arm. The claws pulled hard and Xephos crashed into the sand. He only had a second to register what was going on, and it absolutely terrified him. Suddenly he felt the ground underneath him begin to change and the claws dissipated into sand.

He sighed in relief, but it was short lived.

The sand underneath his feet began to move until Xephos was lifted up from the ground by a massive hand. He tried to stand up, but the hand raised even higher and Xephos went flying through the air. Then he began to fall. Just as he was about to hit the earth, the hand grabbed him, though it's grip was uncomfortably tight.

The hand moved so the Space Man was upright, but that only made his head spin more. It moved over to Annahvi, who looked at him with a slight grin.

"Sand," she shrugged, "I guess it's a lot more useful than we thought."

She squeezed her hand into a fist and the sand gripped tighter, squeezing the air out of Xephos' lungs. His eyes widened and it felt as though his head was going explode. Was this really how he was going to die? Squeezed to death by a giant hand at the whim of his best friend? He tried to speak, whether to apologize or to yell even more was unknown, but he couldn't breathe and his tongue felt raw and heavy.

"I guess we've both done some pretty stupid things..." Annahvi stepped closer but her voice felt so far away.

Just as Xephos was certain he was going to pass out, the hand crumbled into sand. He fell onto is hand and knees, violently coughing and tears forming in his eyes. He tried to look up to Annahvi, but even that was a laborious task, so the Elf knelt down in front of him and lifted up his head.

"But do you want to know our greatest blunder?" she chuckled, taking a map and showing to Xephos, "We sent Knight_Peculier to his grave."

Though his vision blurry, he could see a black hand jutting out of the sand.

In the corner, there was a red line going right past the hand.

"I guess we really fucked up this time," Annahvi laughed, "Isis even asked me 'Are you sure this is the right thing to do?' I suppose I should've asked you before we went inside, my mistake."

She stood up, letting Xephos crumple onto the sand.

"I will not hesitate to kill you next time," she spat, before walking off to rejoin the others.

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><p><strong>AN: If Annahvi had a voice, it would be Idina Menzel. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	48. Chapter 42

**A/N: This is an updated version of Chapter 42, because the original version was pretty terrible in my opinion. I changed a few scenes; enjoy!**

**A/N: Wow, looks like we've finally reached Part 42. And to think, this started off as a simple fanfiction. Well, I suppose all we can do now is wait. You've all been a wonderful audience, I hope you enjoy the story.**

* * *

><p>His whole body was sore, his mind was foggy, and the hot desert was quickly turning into a freezing wasteland. But as tired as he was, Xephos needed to get up and start moving; the others would surely die if he didn't. As the Space Man picked himself off of the sand, his thoughts began to recover as well. Xephos' body ached in protest, be he ignored the pain and headed back towards his friends. He needed to get to Honeydew and Shiplord_Hubert; Notch knows what Annahvi would do to them.<p>

Annahvi...

"Dammit," Xephos swore as he looked around the desert. Damn Annahvi, damn the book, damn the desert, damn _himself_! He needed to stop Annahvi before she was too far gone, but the insane shine in her eyes made him wonder if it was already too late. Was she beyond saving? Would they have to kill her? No. Xephos grasped his sword hilt and unsheathed his diamond blade. He was going to destroy that accursed book and save his friend. He was a hero, after all.

Annahvi's boots dug into the sand as she struggled to stand upright. Her movement was unbalanced and her mind was foggy due to a mix of exhaustion in pure ecstasy-borderline-ecstasy. It was the most fantastic high she'd ever experience, and it was impossible to remove the small smile on her face. But then she heard a voice.

_"U-Um... Are you alright?"_

For a moment, Annahvi thought she was merely hearing things, but then she turned around and saw Isis right behind her, looking down with poorly-concealed concern. Her black skin was almost like a welcoming shade in comparison to the bright sand, and her eyes were shinning with a cool purple. Annahvi continued to stare at her friend before remembering Isis had said something, which she had no understanding of.

"Oh, uh, sorry," she muttered, "Um... What are you talking about?"

_"What you did back there..."_ the shadow played with her fingers nervously, _"Do you really mean what you said? About killing him?"_

She looked to her friend in pure confusion before finally realizing the question, and her smile formed once again.

"I'm not entirely sure." Annahvi laughed softly, "Lewis needed a good scare, but I'm not sure if he'll believe what I said... Oh who cares?! That's a bridge we'll cross when we get there."

Isis could only watch as she voice echoed through the desert. Finally Annahvi gave a relieved sigh and shook her head. "Alright, that's enough of that." she straightened her clothes and smiled to her shadow, "Let's continue, shall we?"

But just as she began walking, her feet slipped and she stumbled down a large hill of sand. The world became of spinning blur of bright blues and yellows, all the while different parts of her body were bombarded with the sudden impact of the sand. Finally she reached the bottom and fell onto her back with a harsh thud.

_"Annahvi!"_ Isis quickly hurried down to the Annahvi, who was now staring off to the sky and breathing softly. _"Are you alright?!"_

The Elf continued to stare up to the sky with wide eyes, before closing her eyes and slowly sitting up.

"Am I alright?" she laughed, "No... I don't think I'm alright, as a matter of fact. I think I'm quite the opposite of 'alright'." She looked up to her shadow with a defeated smile. "But who's ever 'alright' nowadays?"

Isis knelt down beside Annahvi and placed her hands on her shoulders.

_"Annahvi,"_ her voice was firm, _"Listen to me: you're dehydrated and we need to get you out of this heat."_ She looked to the shadow, her smile slowly disappearing. This was the first time Isis was ever angry with her. It was like being scolded by a parent. Her eyes morphed in a mix of concern and irritation. _"The heat is making you hysterical, and if we don't do something soon, you and the others are going to get hurt. You're my friend, and I can't let that happen to you, do you understand?"_

Annahvi watched with tired eyes, but she slowly nodded her head. Isis' voice sounded so far away, but she was able to barely make sense of her words.

_"Good."_ Isis grabbed one of her hands and pulled the Elf to her feet, wrapping one of her arms over the shadow's shoulders.

"Isis...?" Annahvi spoke, her voice soft and course, "What are you doing?"

_"Save your energy," _she instructed, _"We're getting out of this desert."_

Too tired to argue, she nodded her head again and allowed herself to lean on her shadow. By now she had completely forgotten which way they were supposed to go, but Isis seemed to have no trouble remembering. The blazing sun rested against Annahvi's back as they dragged her though the desert. Finally, Annahvi could begin to see the her friends in the distance.

She removed her arm from Isis' shoulder and stumbled towards the blurred silhouettes of her friends. Her legs were shaking and her body was pleading for rest, but at least she wasn't as disoriented as before. As she drew closer to them, she noticed Xephos standing beside Honeydew, with a mix of anger on concern. Soon they noticed Annahvi slowly trudging towards them and began to run towards her.

"There you are!" Honeydew said, "What happened to you; Lewis said you wandered off into the desert by yourself!"

"Are you alright, mon ami?" Shiplord_Hubert asked, "You look pale."

"It's alright," Annahvi laughed weakly, straightening her back and taking in a deep breath, "I um... I got a bit lost. But I'm fine, really."

She gave them a warm smile, but the three still looked at her nervously. Finally Honeydew nodded his head "Alright, if you insist..." he said reluctantly as they left the chasm behind.

As they began walking again, Xephos looked back to Annahvi, who was following right behind, staring off into space. The moment he saw the empty look in her eyes, he wanted to scream. To yell at her, to grab her by the shoulders and shake her back and forth, to take that infernal book and rip it to pieces, just so he could have his friend back.

Soon, the four came across a massive skeleton, half-buried in the sand. It looked much bigger than the pervious skeleton, but the strange wings and tail suggested it was another dragon. Even more surprising, though, was the massive sandstone wall in the distance. They could see the sandstone as it wrapped around a small patch of land, and jutting out of the patch was a massive tree trunk, barren of all it's leaves.

"AH!" Shiplord_Hubert smiled victorious, "Is it zis?"

"That it is," Xephos nodded his head, "That _must_ be it!"

However, the celebration was cut short when an undead templar began to scramble towards the Frenchman.

"Ahh!" Shiplord_Hubert screamed, before hitting the zombie with a large baguette, "Taste zis cheesy baguette of doom!"

A small horde of assorted monsters began to made its way towards the four, but they were able to easily fend of the enemies. Once the monsters were defeated, Xephos climbed down the massive hill and looked back to the skeleton.

"What's this skeleton supposed to be of?" he asked, "It's just a load of random bones by the looks."

"Is part of a dragon?" Honeydew asked.

"Maybe," Xephos shrugged, making his way to the sandstone barricade.

"So do we wanna go...?" Honeydew asked as they approached the massive wall.

"Well it's like an oasis, isn't it? So let's just go in; get some water and stuff."

"I don't know, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, walled of places, it's never very good, is it? Because there's a reason there's a big wall around things."

"Yeah, because it's got loads of trees and stuff in it."

"It's to keep something in or to keep people out, and either way it means trouble, doesn't it?"

"Probably," Xephos admitted. By this point, they were right in front of the wall, and right in the middle of the wall was a tiny opening. Suddenly, the four heard a very familiar voice come from behind the wall.

"Whoa, who's there man?" Swampy_Bogbeard asked, "I can feel your energies, man!"

"Who is zees!" Shiplord_Hubert called out.

"Hello?" Xephos spoke through the window, getting a good glimpse of the 'oasis' inside.

"Oh shit." he swore. He turned to his friends with a nervous smile, "Yeah, it's not actually as nice in there as is in the picture."

Instead of lush greens and a blue river, all they could see was disgusting Soul Sand and the trees were barren of any leaves. There wren't any plants, and odds were something terrible happened to the river.

"Man," Swampy continued, "this is the worst thing that's even happened!"

"Bonsoir?" Shiplord_Hubert said through the window. Xephos stepped away to let his friends look inside and in doing so he looked up and noticed the familiar wizard standing on the top of the wall.

"Oh!" he alerted them, "God, he's above us! Simon, he's up there!"

"Woah!" Honeydew looked up to the sky, "What're you doing up there?"

"Swampy!" the Space Man called out.

The wizard looked down at the four and jumped off of the wall, though he landed on he feet without any injury. Honeydew, Xephos, and Annahvi smiled while Shiplord_Hubert simply watched in confusion.

"We missed you! Man!" Honeydew said, though Swampy looked completely distraught.

"Swampy?" Annahvi asked her voice still a little hoarse, "What's wrong?"

"My secret grove of 'plants' is totally ruined, man!" he explained, "I went on a 'spirit journey' for a little while, and when I got back it was like this!"

Swampy turned to the sandstone wall and destroyed the portion below the window, creating a makeshift entrance. Swampy went inside the destroyed oasis and Honeydew followed after, but the moment he stepped inside, an arrow flew at him and hit the sandstone above his head.

"Ah!" Honeydew panicked.

"Eet looked a lot greener from my ship!" the Frenchman commented.

"Man," Swampy continued as the heroes tried to kill off the surrounding monsters, "this grove of 'healing plants' has been cultivated for generations! But now my herbs are nearly dead and they need to be, like, resurrected, man!"

"Are these healing herbs good for our friend?" Xephos asked, "He is poorly and needs healing!"

"Wait! Let me check!" Swampy reached into his robe and took out briarwood pipe and placed it in his mouth. Smoke and an odd smell rose from the pipe, and the wizard smiled. Sure, they can help your friend, man! These herbs can mend almost anything, man!"

"Hm..." Xephos and Honeydew watched as he smoked the 'healing plants'.

"But when I try to breathe life back into the forest," Swampy continued, "I get attacked man! You guys can help me, man!"

"Sure," Xephos laughed with a shrug, "Let's do it!"

"I need to meditate and then they will regrow, man!"

"Okay..." Xephos said as he looked around the oasis, but Honeydew instantly smiled as an idea began to form in his head.

"Annahvi!" he turned to the Elf, "You can help him!"

"W-What?" Annahvi laughed weakly as she looked to her friends, "What are you talking about?"

"You can use your magic to help heal the oasis, and we'll protect you and Swampy."

"That's insane,"

"I see that you've connected yourself with the energies before, man!" Swampy said, looking Annahvi dead in the eye, "If I have some help, it will be easier to regrow the plants."

"No," she shook her head, "You're crazy! I don't know enough to help regrow an entire oasis."

"Sure you can," Honeydew laughed, playfully punching her in the shoulder, though Annahvi was afraid she would topple over. "You can do it."

"C'mon, man!" Swampy said as he grabbed Annahvi by the collar of her shirt before she could voice any more objections. "We've got to get to work, man! Come and protect us while we're in my tree, man!" Swampy instructed to the three men. He dragged Annahvi to the massive tree they saw before, all the while she tried to get Swampy to let go of her shirt. The three followed behind Swampy into the hollowed tree, but they were surprised to see it empty save for a bed on some Soul Sand.

"Where did they go?" Honeydew asked.

"I think he went up to the top of the tree," Xephos explained as the three looked up through a massive hole in the ceiling.

"Oh, they can fly, can't they."

"Well we know Swampy can, I don't know about Annahvi."

"We will begin to channel the healing energies of the world," Swampy called out from above, "This should totally work! Just keep those bad dudes off us, okay?"

"What do we have to do?" Xephos asked.

"We just got to look after them," Honeydew explained.

"I don't know, they're up there; they'll be fine, won't they?"

"They're a lot safer than we are, let's put it that way!" Honeydew laughed as they exited the tree. However, their laughter was cut short by a small stone hitting Honeydew on the head.

"Hey!" Annahvi called out, "Get me down from here!"

"C'mon, Annahvi!" Honeydew answered, "You'll be just fine."

Annahvi looked at her friend and gave an sigh. At that point, she made the horrible mistake of looking directly down. Her stomach tightened into a knot and she instantly crawled away from the edge of the tree. Her stomach began to lurch forward, but she didn't vomit - not that there was anything in her stomach to begin with.

"Okay, man!" Swampy said, taking a seat across from her, "You just need to meditate and connect yourself with the energies around us!"

"Easier said than done," Annahvi grumbled as she sat down. She tried her best to relax enough, but her head was threatening to split into two. Swampy looked up at the fidgeting Elf and offered his pipe.

"Do you need some 'herbs'?" he asked, "They'll calm you down, for sure!"

"N-No thanks," Annahvi grumbled.

She took in a deep breath and closer her eyes. It took a while, but eventually her breath slowly came to a calm pace and her heart slowed down its pounding in her chest. Her entire body began to go numb and the world around her fade into nothingness; even Isis was beginning to become nothing more than a mumble in the back of her mind. All of her aches and pains disappeared without a trace and she didn't feel hungry or tired.

It was as if she had stepped out of her own body and entered a completely new world. All around her she could see and feel the different energies of the oasis, though it was faint and struggling. She could sense the energy of Soul Sand below as it pushed against the tree, trying to drain out as much of its life, like some a parasitic leach. The energies from trees were trying to balance out the Soul Sand by raising up and spreading out, only to wither away after going too far, all the while the sun was pressing down against the oasis. She could even sense energy from Swampy and faint traces from her friends below.

"Okay!" she heard the wizard say, "Now you're going to have to, like, help move the energies around so they can, like, grow, man."

"Alright..." Annahvi muttered. She followed the energy of their tree down to the ground of Soul Sand. It's energy was like a thick smoke - it was even a strange mix of grey and brown. When she tried to move it, it pushed back against her. But she simply took in a deep breath and parted the energy, just a little. The energy of the Soul Sand began to slowly give way, and so Annahvi walked through, forming a small bubble of her own energy, which just faintly mixed with the Soul Sand. She began wandering around, slowly visualizing all of the energies and slowly building a tangible world.

She reached what she believed to be the dried up riverbank, and instantly felt the intense heat of a large white mass of energy. It rested on the very edge of the oasis, towering above everything except for Swampy's tree. Annahvi tried to pull some of the energy, but was surprised to see that it refused to move.

"The sands are, like, fighting back, man!"Swampy explained, "We need to, like, work together and redirect it, man."

"If you say so," Annahvi said. She tried once again to pull at the energy from the sand, attempting to draw some of its energy into her own body, but it still refused to give way. However, she noticed that now it moved more than before.

"Okay..." Annahvi sighed. She took in a deep breath, ignoring all of the other sounds and energies for just this moment, and pulled at the sand. It began to stretch towards her, though it was still being pulled back to its original place. She pulled harder and harder, until finally she felt some of the energy part from the sand. It barreled into her, creating a strange sensation in her stomach, but Annahvi quickly recovered. She smiled and let the sand's energy slowly leave her body, now sent in a different direction all together.

Swampy laughed victoriously as they began spreading the sand out and away from the oasis. "Alright, man! Now we need to bring back the water, man."

"What?!" Annahvi yelled, "How are we supposed to do that ?"

"Draw out enough the water's energy and the water will being to follow its path. I'll start working on the plants."

Annahvi had to resist the urge to scream as Swampy left her behind. She took in a deep breath again and stood still. Although the sand was still a little damp, she couldn't sense any underground reservoirs, she couldn't take water away from the trees - they barely had any for themselves - and taking water from her own body was too extreme. Annahvi could only notice a small amount of energy from the air, as expected of the desert, and the sky only had a few clouds. She sighed and took in a deep breath, Notch knows she was going to need it. She slowly began to draw in the energy from the air and reached up to the sky. The clouds slowly gathered with the small amount of water vapor in the air, but Annahvi didn't know if it would be enough. With no other choices left, she pulled at the gathered energy and directed it to the riverbed, where it began to flow back and forth.

"Zee water!" Shiplord_Hubert called out, "Eet is coming back!"

Xephos looked up from the bridge widened his eyes in shock. The empty river was soon flooded with fresh water, rushing down the riverbed and crashing into the sides. Honeydew had just enough time to jump out of the riverbed, all the while Xephos smiled.

"The planet is responding!" Swampy called out from the tree.

With the river now flowing with water, Xephos turned his attention to the Soul Sand as it slowly became dark green grass.

"Oh my god!" Honeydew and Xephos yelled at the same time as the entire ground was covered in grass. They laughed in amazement as the world around them began to regrow into the oasis it was supposed to be.

Annahvi and Swampy drew up the now fertile soil and began to spread out the small amount of energy they had gathered from a few spare patches of grass. Soon, they blanketed the entire oasis with a thin fog-like layer of energy.

"Give me grass again!" She heard Swampy yell, and soon she began to feel all sort of different begin to rise up of the ground. Flowers, ferns, mushroom, and bushes sprouted out of the ground. Annahvi mimicked the wizard and began to draw energy from the few plants that surrounded them, and soon they had spread a thin fog-like layer over the oasis floor.

"Yeah man!" Swampy laughed, "This is totally working! We need to meditate just a little while longer!"

"O-Okay!" Annahvi smiled, though she was still nervous.

Meanwhile, the three men were busy killing the monsters that filled the healing oasis. Xephos smiled as he killed another skeleton. "This is great; we're doin' it!" he laughed, "I was _really_ skeptical. Oh my God, this is totally different now."

"Planet Mother," he heard Swampy yell, "Like, bring me back my plants or something!"

With the ground now rejuvenated with living plants, the two directed their attention to the trees, which were still barren and withered. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"We have to, like, give the trees more energy to grow, man." the wizard instructed.

"Well that sounds easy enough," Annahvi said softly as she began to draw some of the energy from the newly revitalized river and plants. It was strange feeling the different energies being drawn into her body, but the cool water and refreshing plants brought a sense of peace, mixing with her own mentality.

She let the energies leave her body and into the trees, and the moment they mixed the trees began to flourish. Their energy reached up to the sky and spread out, almost creating a sort of roof above Annahvi.

"There you go!" she heard Swampy laugh as they watched the oasis grow.

Meanwhile, Xephos, Honeydew, and Shiplord_Hubert were busy killing off more monsters. The Space Man swung his diamond sword at the zombie and sliced it's head clean off. The monster stumbled forward before falling to the ground. He smiled victoriously as he looked around for more enemies. Imagine his surprise when he saw a canopy of trees growing before his very eyes.

He watched as they stretched out their branches, and little leaves sprouted from all over the tree. Soon all of the trees were regrowing and the sky above was covered with branches and leaves. Soon, he and the other two had rejoined at the wooden bridge right in front of Swampy's tree. They looked at the oasis, now lush and full of life.

"The last part!" Swampy yelled, "My tree! Grow my tree!"

The three looked up to Swampy and Annahvi, and were surprised to see that his massive oak was still dead.

"Oh! Swamp's tree is still all manky! Oh my God, what's gonna happen?!"

They watched anxiously for something to happen, though the large tree was still dead and barren.

"C'mon, man!"Swampy called out to Annahvi as they pushed against the tree, "We're almost done."

"I'm trying!" Annahvi grunted as she tried to push the channel more energy into the tree, "Why did you have to grow such an enormous tree!"

The energy of the tree was stronger than before now that the oasis was almost completely alive, but it was still too weak to grow any branches or leaves. Annahvi tried to draw in as much energy as she could from around them, but it didn't seem to be enough, and if she drew in too much then the rest of the oasis would die again. Finally Annahvi sighed and began to mix the energy from the oasis with her own energy, and channeled it to the tree.

The energy began to glow a bright green and shot up to the heavens. She watched in amazement as it spread out, still growing a bright green until it began to resemble a blurry image of a tree. Annahvi took in another breath and pushed more of her energy into the tree. The energy surged up the tree and grew into a deep green, spreading over and mixing with the energy from the tree. She could faintly hear the exclamations of her friends, and she smiled softly.

Finally, Annahvi felt herself being drawn back to the physical world. The energies around her began to fade away, soon replaced with a bright blue sky filled with green leaves and healthy branches. Annahvi rubbed her eyes and looked up to Swampy with a weak smile.

"We did it, man!" the wizard smiled as he helped the Elf to her feet, "We've managed to restore life back my sanctuary! Thank you so much, man!"

"You're welcome, Swampy," she smiled softly, "N-Now, how do I get down from here?"

Swampy smiled and pointed over her shoulder. Annahvi turned and was surprised to see Honeydew in his hot-air balloon. He must have still kept his.

"Your chariot, miss!" Honeydew said, leaning closer to the tree. Annahvi laughed and carefully made her way into the small basket. Honeydew began to lower the balloon, and soon they were back on solid ground. Shiplord_Hubert was there, smiling as well, though Xephos still had an impressed smile. Annahvi gave them a tired smile.

Soon, Swampy had joined them in front of his tree.

"That was amazing," Xephos laughed to the wizard, while Honeydew was still trying to understand what happened.

"Thanks man!" Swampy smiled, "This is like, my ancestral grove!"

"How did he do this?" Honeydew muttered, "How did he do all this?"

"It wasn't just me," Swampy shrugged, turning to Annahvi, "You're friend here is pretty good with magic, though you still have a while to go."

"I can accept that," she laughed weakly. She watched as Shiplord_Hubert placed a small rowboat in the water and began paddling around. "Ziz place iz lovely!" he laughed.

"So," Swampy said, getting the attention of the three heroes, "your friend, man. I nearly forgot!" The wizard turned to Annahvi and handed her a few bundles of strange green herbs and a pipe. "This will heal him right up! He'll be back on his feet in no time!"

"This is fantastic news." Xephos smiled, "We'll go straight back."

"Thank you so much, Swampy!" Honeydew laughed.

"Before you leave," Swampy said, "Take one of my animals, man. It will get you there much faster! Take three ,in fact!"

"Swampy away!" the wizard cried out as he flew back to the top of his tree.

"Thank you, heroes." Shiplord_Hubert said, causing the three to turn to him, "I'll stay 'ere till I've recovered my strength. 'Ere's an honorary Shiplord license in case you need 'elp from ma brothers!"

He handed each of the heroes a small slip of paper, which also appeared to be blank.

"Au revoir!"

"See ya later, Shiplord!" Honeydew called out as the Frenchman returned to his boat. He walked off the bridge and headed towards the canopy, leaving Annahvi and Xephos on the bridge.

"Lewis," the Elf began, looking to the Space Man. He gave her a wary look, but didn't do or say anything. "I... um. I, well..." she tried to speak clearly and properly, but her previous fatigue was beginning to take its toll on her newly refreshed mind. That and the absolute lack of proper words made it impossible for her to even finish her sentence.

Isis moved beside Annahvi and giggled softly, _"Is this the bridge you were talking about, or am I being to literal?"_

"Oh shut it, Isis." she grumbled, before looking up to Xephos again, "Um... Sorry, Isis said something to me."

"I gathered," he laughed, causing the her to look up at him in surprise. He had the faintest trace of a smile, though it was also mixed with concern. Annahvi have Xephos a weak smile.

There was a feeling of falling and a sharp impact on Annahvi's right shoulder. She tried to get back up, but her muscles refused to listen and all she could do was move her head and fingers. Xephos began yelling something, but his voice was becoming a blur. He knelt down beside her and helped Annahvi onto her back - at least now she was in a more comfortable position. She turned her head a little and could vaguely distinguish Xephos' face from the blur of colors and black dots; his eyes were wide and terrified.

"Annahvi, can you hear me?!"

"Lewis," she mumbled weakly, though he seemed to hear her, "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright, I just need a little rest."

"Don't be ridiculous," Xephos said, placing a hand on her face. He instantly pulled away, "Annahvi, you're burning up!"

"What are you talking about?" Annahvi tried to feel the skin of her forehead, but her hand refused to move.

"God," Xephos ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "Annahvi, have you been sick this whole time?!"

"We're all a little sick, aren't we?" she laughed softly.

"Annahvi, this is serious! Shit! Simon, I need you over here!"

She watched as Xephos looked back to her, his voice was now completely incomprehensible. She smiled weakly at him as the edges of things became dark and fuzzy. "I'm sorry," she laughed, "You know... for almost killing you... and then threatening to kill you,"

Annahvi couldn't be certain, but she thought she heard Xephos laugh.


	49. Epilogue?

She had to be dreaming, surely. Everything felt just a little too surreal - maybe she was in a lucid dream.

Annahvi slowly pushed herself up from the cold ground and opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut the moment she saw the bright white surrounding her. In the back of her mind, she could vaguely remember hearing someone say something, and then there was... falling. There was a bright blue sky, and plants all around them. A Dwarf as there too, and so was someone else, but she couldn't remember the face or the name.

She rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and carefully opened them again, slowly adjusting to the seemingly endless light. If she was in a room, it had to be an enormous one. She couldn't see any walls or a ceiling, and the floor was just as transparent as the rest of the space around here.

Annahvi slowly rose to her feet and began to stumble around, hoping to find some way to escape from... wherever she was. She had no idea where she was going or what she'd find, but it had to be better than just sitting around and doing nothing.

Then, she heard a voice behind her.

_"Annahvi... Wake up..."_

She turned around, but no one was there. Was it just her mind playing tricks on here? The voice didn't sound like anyone she knew, but she couldn't be sure.

_"Is she even breathing..."_

This time it was a different voice, and it seemed to be coming front right in front of her, where the first voice was. She slowly began walking towards the voices, her stride slowly growing longer and faster until she was practically running. The voices grew louder and more distinct. She could recognize two voices, but there was also a third person, someone she certainly _didn't_ recognize. She continued running, until it felt like the voices were right around her.

Then she woke up.

"Annahvi!" Lewis yelled, shaking her back and forth, "Wake up!"

She grumbled and opened her eyes, instantly greeted by three different faces. One was Lewis, the second was Simon, but the third was a complete stranger. A blonde with goggles strapped to his head, a white lab coat, and a pair of grey gloves. Annahvi continued to stare at him in confusion before returning her attention to Lewis, who had stopped shaking her by now.

"Ah, thank God you're alright," he sighed, "We were scoping out the land and you fell in a ditch and hit your head against some rocks. You've been out for an hour."

"My head?" Annahvi ran a hand through and up her hair, before resting her fingers against a painful bump right behind her crown. She looked back to the three men in front of her before looking around. She was lying down in the middle of a grassy field, right on the edge of a forest.

Bright blue sky... lots of plants...

"Um..." Annahvi looked to her friends, and then to the blonde, "Who's this?"

"Oh! I almost forgot to introduce you!" Lewis smiled and pulled Annahvi to her feet, "Annahvi, this is Duncan. Duncan, this is Annahvi. He's going to be helping us with building Simon's Jaffa Cake Factory."

"Uh, nice to meet you," she smiled weakly as she shook his gloved hand.

"You too," he said with an honest smile.

"Listen," Lewis said, "Why don't you help with building the shed with Duncan while me and Simon try to get some wood and other resources together,"

Annahvi looked back to Duncan and then to a small little shack constructed of wooden planks.

"Okay..." she began, "But I just have one question."

_"What's a Jaffa Cake?"_


End file.
